Curfews

This episode keeps it simple, talking about curfews and how to establish and maintain them for kids as they get older.

How do we establish curfews? Do we set them arbitrarily? What would happen if we just let kids decide when to come home on their own?

What's the purpose of a curfew? To make sure kids get enough sleep? To keep kids safe? To teach them how to make good choices?

Does a curfew really keep kids safe or teach them how to make good decisions? They can get in just as much trouble at 8pm as they can at 1am.

We want to teach kids to make healthy decisions, do the right thing, stand up for what's right, etc. starting when they're young, not only between the ages of 16 and 18 when they need a curfew.

I want my kids to make mistakes while they have the safety net of living at home. 
When our kids turn 18, we automatically control nothing.  If they don't have any freedom for years leading up to that, there's no way they'll know how to navigate the change.

Consider this if you're going to impose a curfew: Try to make it flexible and allow collaboration whenever possible.  Develop the curfew together, based on what everyone thinks is appropriate. Try to say yes as much as possible, instead of looking for ways to say no.

A strict curfew almost always pushes kids to be sneaky, which is where the risk often comes in. Instead focus on ways to help them learn important skills - time management, fighting peer pressure, meeting responibilities, etc.

Kids have curfews for 2 years of their life and will never again. So what's the point? :)

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