Senior High School Curfew

It depends on where she's going, what she"s doing and who she"s doing it with. Also - her general, overall attitude lately.... is homweork done? room clean? etc.

up until I was 21 (when I got married) I had to be home at 9:45pm on weekdays and 11:45pm on weekends. For every minute I was late, was a day that I was grounded. My dad was very strict.

ETA: Fuzzy, I was living in their house. I had to follow their rules. Grounding pretty much meant that I couldn't go out with my friends or fiancee after work. I had to go home and help with dinner and spend time with them. My mom was not so strict. My dad and I are not very close but I am very close with my mom. They are still married. My sister is 24 and lives at home still after graduating college and they are not as strict with her. They said it's because they are old and don't have the energy to deal with it anymore (they are in their 50's, so not that old lol). There are 10 years between me and my sister.

But yeah, I was a good girl and tried to follow all the rules. The night before my wedding I stayed out until 11pm and I thought he was going to flip but really, he couldn't ground me then because I was moving out and getting married the next day :)

In addition to what the other posters have mentioned, if it is a newer driver, then it will also be affected by the graduated licensing systems of some states. In GA, for example, a teen with a Class D license, cannot drive after midnight nor before 6:00 a.m. They can't even apply for a Class C license until they have held the Class D license for a minimum of one year. Given the other restrictions in Georgia, this means a minimum of being 17 years old plus 2 days.

I didn't have a curfew when I was in high school. I was expected home at a reasonable time depending on where I was and what I was doing. I might be at work until 3:00am, or a dance until midnight, or band practice until 10:00pm or the mall until 9:00pm, I was just expected home shortly after the end of the activity. If I wasn't going to be coming right home from said activity then I was expected to call and explain. I was nearly and adult, so I was afforded some freedom, but I was also still the responsibility of my parents, so I had to respect the rules of their home.

my kids didn't have a curfew. it was a case-by-case call.
khairete
S.

No curfew. Like Suz, it's case by case.

For us, it was case-by-case. My older brother usually had a 10:00 curfew, because otherwise there was no way to get him up on the morning. He also tended to hang out with a "bad" crowd and would get into trouble late. I didn't have any curfew at all, because I was little miss rule-follower, working, and never got into any trouble. Lol. My little brother came home stoned a few times, so he wound up with an 8:00 curfew, and my little sister would often earn a midnight curfew only to start letting her grades slip and get a 10:00 curfew put in place until she fixed it.

We all had exceptions... If there was something going on early the next morning I had to be home early. If there was something going on later at night, sometimes my siblings' curfews would be extended. There was job set rule.

I suggest there is no average. Curfew should be based on teens need fir sleep and study time as well as family responsibilities/expectations. If the teen is responsible, has an acceptable plan for the time he's gone, makes good grades, gets up in the am without difficulty, is healthy and respectfully discusses the curfew with the parent I might set the curfew same as the one set by law. I would place a limit on the number of nights away from home. I would expect my teen to be a part of family life.

I think a lot of it depends on the child, the relationship between the parents and child and the communication with the child.

That said, I had a good kid. I was pretty lenient her Sr. year (2012-13). She never gave us any trouble, she managed to maintain a 4.0 with AP classes and a very heavy schedule with cheer workouts 2 hours a day and Friday night games being from 2:30pm prep time until about midnight.

We had our "time" as midnight for her to check in with us or be home but as I said, we made allowances to extend it for certain things such as homecoming, prom and special occasions.

We didn't have to worry too much because she was with a good crowd, she managed her study time well and exhibited mature behavior.

As you can see, the basic answer is 'it depends.' Important factors are making sure the young person can function well in their main activity (going to school), whether s/he has a job, what extra curricular activities s/he does, whether s/he has a track record of making good decisions about their friends and following sensible guidelines, etc. I can tell you that I was supposed to be home by 1 am on weekends because under-18-ers had to be with an 18+ driver between 1 and 5 am. Weeknights, I was probably home by 8 or so, if there was a theatre production that I was in.

Good luck with it!

We don't really do curfews. Depending on where she is and what she's doing we decide on a time for each situation.

We aren't big on teens just driving around looking for something to do so a night of hanging out around town would be an earlier one. If it's a party, dance or she's at a friends house then later is fine.

She is great about keeping in contact and letting us know what's up (aren't cell phones great?!) so we don't worry about the number on the clock too much. Teenagers are funny creatures, the last time she was out "late" they were playing cards and making pancakes at a friends house. Her Dad picked her up at midnight at her friends house a few blocks away.

She's 15, so far so good.

My son graduated this past spring. Last year his curfew was 10:00-11:00 on school nights depending on what he was doing and 1:00 on weekends (again depending on what he was doing).

10pm on a school night (assuming they need to be up at 7am for school the next day and they don't fall asleep instantly when they get home).
11pm to midnight on a non school night.
When they are living on their own they can live like vampires if they want to and rise when the sun sets and go to sleep when it rises.
We have work to wake up for and need some sleep and can't have people coming and going at all hours.

I agree with the others on "it depends." Right now my two 16 year olds are going to be juniors. Neither has a license yet and their friends who do have licenses haven't been driving long enough to be able to have passengers yet so right now they are still dependent on us or another parent to bring them home at night and I am not going out at midnight to pick up a kid so on weekends, 10:30 - 11 is the norm unless they are at a concert or a special party and have a specific reason to be out later. Obviously school and sport events end when they end and we get home as soon as we can. Sometimes that's 11 PM on a school night but it is what it is.

When they do get their licenses, my husband and I are planning on 11 PM on weekends unless there is a reason to be out later and then maybe extending to as late as midnight when they get older. I like one of us to be awake when they get home so if they're doing anything stupid, they can't just sneak off to bed and sleep off the booze or pot.

Not sure why any kid would need to be out past 10 unless it is a special circumstance.

It varied. When I was in HS, it was 9:30 school nights and midnight on weekends. When my sks were in HS, some of it depended on who and where and why. DH was more flexible than my mother, and SD in particular was involved in theatre with cast parties and long rehearsal nights. Generally they had to be in by 12 or 1, though. BUT they would not be allowed out if their grades were bad, their homework was missing, or they'd burned the candle at both ends working on a procrastinated assignment. While my mom was on my case for 5 minutes late, we didn't get angry til more like 15 with no call. That's what the cell phone was for.

I never had a curfew. If I was going out with friends I would let my parents know what time I thought I'd be home and then call them if plans changed. It was the same for my brother. My sister on the other hand ...

My sister needed a curfew. She was an excellent student, but she was also very over-extended - very involved in school activities. She got really sick a few times her junior and senior year and didn't seem to have the common sense to slow down and get enough sleep.

It just really depends on your kid. If you think they can make smart decisions, it's going to be much less of an issue. If you are concerned about some of the choices they will make, this is one way you can teach them about reasonable schedules.

Don't know but I bet that is an amazing cleaning service you have a link to on your profile!!

I think that this is very different for many people.

In my group of friends many of their teens want to have a part time job so they can have spending money. If a kid works then wants to go do something with friends for a while after work they should have some leeway. BUT obviously not out until midnight or 1am every night.

I know one family who own a business where they do floors for businesses during the night time hours. Their teens go to school all day, work and take dance/tumbling classes almost every evening then go to work with the family and are often up until the wee hours stripping and polishing floors.

A kids JOB is to go to school. If they can do their work and focus on school then they should get to have some down time and go do stuff.

I imagine I'm going to have a be home and in bed by 11pm curfew during high school 7 days per week. If they are not able to get up and get off to school in the mornings then that time will move earlier.

I stopped having a curfew at 16. As long as my kids prove to be trustworthy they will not have one either.

10:00 pm for my daughter. I took her electronics at 9pm. She is/was a good girl; she's 24 now and says she will raise her kids the same way.

I had a curfew of midnight on the weekends. During the week I do not recall having a curfew at all. The only things that I did during the week were school activity related and I was expected to come home right after.

Welcome to mamapedia!!

Sorry- I'm not going to click on your link for your business!!

I have a freshman - his curfew is 10PM.

There are still towns and counties that have curfews for kids. If you are close to Buffalo, they have a curfew of 10PM...check with your chamber of commerce or call your local police NON-EMERGENCY number to find out..

Good luck!

Mine was 11:00 on weeknights (and he couldn't go out without permission - there had to be a good reason he was going out on week nights...). Usually there was a movie involved on the weekend. If so, it was after the movie was over (sometimes 12:30 or 12:45.) If not a movie, midnight was his curfew...

As a senior, she had a car and a job. I didn't give her a curfew, just told her to be sure and let me know where she would be if she decided to spend the night somewhere other than at home.

Candice, you allowed your dad to ground you at the age of 21?

Our oldest son is a junior. He seldom goes out on school nights unless he's working on a school project with a friend, but if he is out on a school night he's home by 9:30. On weekends he's home by 11:30. As a senior, midnight on weekends seems reasonable. I teach juniors and seniors, and that seems about right.