Greensboro, NC -- Starting New Year's Day, anyone under the age of 18 will not be allowed to be in downtown Greensboro at certain times, unless they're with a parent or guardian.
The city council approved the curfew last month. The goal is to cut down on the number of young people who hang around on streets and parking garages.
"I don't' know why there would be any reason for me to be here," said Gray Rudd, 17 of the curfew, which runs from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"Most of the time the people who are downtown during those hours are not up to anything good," said Cassie Rudd, Gray's mother.
"They become a little bit of an annoyance," said Brenda Lee McCall, a server at
Liberty Oak. She said most of the young people hang out late at night during the summer.
"Bless their heart, they don't have anything else to do," she said.
McCall and Opa server Hillary Evans said they haven't seen any major problems by teens.
"Overall from this new curfew, we would like for there to be less groups of younger kids congregating downtown. The majority of the nighttime life is for older people anyway. Typically 21 and over," Evans said.
"If you don't have a parent or guardian, odds are you are going to get in trouble," she said.
"I guess a downside would be if there was a reason you needed to be out between 11 and 6," Gray Rudd said.
Rules allow those in transit or attending school or religious functions to be downtown.
"My question is how are you going to differentiate who is of age and who isn't? It's almost as if it profiling or discriminating against young kids," McCall said.
Officers will ask an offender's age and reason for being in the area during restricted hours, according to the details council members approved.
"I feel like if people are inclined to do different things, then they'll manage to do it even without a curfew or with a curfew," Evans said.
Niels Larsen, general manager of Natty Green's, said the new rules could be perceived as an overreaction. He said 17-year-olds are not the ones causing problems downtown. He blames panhandlers and vagrants.
A Facebook page is dedicated to being against the curfew, with about 300 supporters.
The city council passed the new curfew for one year. It expires at the end of 2011.
