Traditional Curfews
For traditional curfews, you’ll set rules for when you want your kid to be home at night. They’ll depend on your family and your expectations as a parent.
Make sure the curfew is rational. For a curfew to work, it should be reasonable. Consider asking your teen what they think is a sensible curfew and start there. Both your comfort level as a parent and theirs as your child are important.
Get familiar with local laws. Depending on where you live, it can be illegal for young people to leave their homes or drive at certain times. Many local laws include curfews for teenagers under 18. For example, your city might have a curfew Sunday through Thursday from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. This will affect the curfew you want to set.
Make sure your teen gets enough sleep.Teens need a lot of sleep. In fact, kids ages 13-18 require about 8-10 hours of quality sleep per night. Those who don’t get enough have a higher risk of conditions like diabetes and obesity and might have trouble paying attention. In a national sample, 7 out of 10 high school students didn’t sleep enough during the week.
If your kid has trouble sleeping because they stay out late, an earlier curfew might help them get the rest they need.
Set clear expectations. Curfews work best when you spell things out clearly. For example, maybe you decide your child must finish all their homework before going out. You might also expect them to call you if they’re running late because of traffic or other unexpected things.
Yolanda Lynch, a parent from Suwanee, GA, says her teens understand the rules because they’ve always had a curfew.
“We’ve always had a weekday bedtime curfew,” she says. “The boys understand that the household ‘shuts down,’ meaning Mom won’t be up all night. They know when I expect everyone to be inside and settled.”
As a single mom, Lynch says, it’s important to her to have a sense of security in her home at night.
Digital Curfews
A digital curfew means your kid can’t use technology, like a cellphone, video game, TV, tablet, or laptop, for a certain period of time (usually at night). In the age of COVID-19, digital curfews are more relevant than ever. Without them, it’s easy for kids to be online with friends any time, day or night.
Turn off devices before bed. Nusheen Ameenuddin, MD, a pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic, suggests turning off devices.
“We have all of this good research that shows that when kids and even adults take electronic devices into bed with them or into the bedroom, the blue light actually activates parts of their brain that keep them alert,” she says. “We recommended having families turn off devices at least an hour before bedtime.”
Megan Moreno, MD, an adolescent health expert at UW Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agrees.
“One thing I’ve seen from patients in clinic and in some of our research studies is that if there’s a digital curfew, it’s going to work best if everyone in the family follows it,” she says. “If there’s a digital curfew of 9 o’clock at night and a teenager abides by that but they see their parents scrolling, that probably is going to backfire on the parents.”
