Teens on Miami Beach have a constant reminder of the curfew.

It's 1 a.m. after a game of miniature golf in Coral Gables. John Zean, 15, and his friends believe the night is going great. That is, until a blue- and white-striped police car approaches.

Jittery, Zean knows why he and his friends will be stopped.

Within 18 months, Zean has been stopped twice for breaking Dade County's three-year-old teen curfew.

Pulling out his ID, he hopes this time the law won't catch up with him.

"All I could think of was that this was going to be the time that the cops weren't going to let me off with a warning," said Zean, a student at Coral Gables High.

Metro-Dade commissioners passed the controversial curfew to fight teen crime three years ago. Teens caught out after 11 p.m. during the week, and past midnight on the weekends, are either given a warning, taken home, fined or faced with time at a juvenile detention center.

Hialeah, Coral Gables, Miami and Metro-Dade are among several local police departments that have aggressively gone after teen curfew violators. They can give you a warning or give you a hard time.

Zean received a hard time from police that evening -- and a new message. If he is caught one more time, the warnings will end. His name will be referred to a county juvenile officer. The officer will write him up, and the report will be sent to the state attorney's office. The office will then determine if Zean should be taken from his home or be fined $500.

"The curfew is to target kids who are out not doing the right thing," said Delrish Moss, police spokesman for the City of Miami.

"The curfew, when it was written, was set up to inconvenience the teens who were out having fun without their parents' permission," Moss said. "The curfew is to catch the kid whose gang friend was shot, and they're out on the street plotting a revenge."

Around the country, curfews have been enforced in Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston and Tampa. In some states, such as Minnesota, Texas and North Carolina, teen curfews are even being imposed in large shopping centers to get teens out of the mall. Just across the county line in Broward, several cities also recently enacted teen curfew laws.

"I'm satisfied by the curfew because it helps parents better manage their children and give police a reason to stop youths they suspect of selling drugs or breaking the law," said Coin Laundry owner Robert Butler of Brownsville.

In 1996 Metro-Dade's police department reported 2,091 curfew violators. Lisi Reyes, who is the department's teen curfew liaison, said she won't know until next week whether the department is doing better than in previous years when it comes to catching teen violators.

"I feel that the curfew is good because it keeps people out of trouble and the crime rate has a chance to go down," said 17-year-old Robert Carter of Carol City High. "As long as you are not out starting trouble, there really shouldn't be a problem."

But many black church leaders are concerned that the curfew targets young black teenagers, Moss said.

The American Civil Liberties Union also has expressed concerns about the existence of teen curfews. The group contends that the curfew violates kids' constitutional rights and has tried to have Dade's curfew revoked. The ACLU, however, lost that battle in court. Police insist that the curfew does not violate anyone's rights.

"We don't go out and do a round-up at 11 p.m.," Moss said. "We target certain juvenile problem spots, like Coconut Grove."

But many teens and adults ---including some police officers -- remain confused by the curfew. For instance, several police officers at Metro-Dade's Northside police station expressed confusion when asked about Dade's curfew. Several teens also have expressed similar doubt; however, this can be attributed to the lack of acceptance of the law by many.

"Naturally, teens want freedom, and it may seem as if the curfew is denying it," said Dwayne Roberts of Carol City High. "But if time was taken to understand it and be aware of what the exceptions are, there wouldn't be a problem."

Modesto Abety (above) and
Maria Alonso-Martinez
(below) speak on children
issues.

'We're not a poor state.
We just treat
our children
poorly.'
Modesto Abety
children's advocate

On opposite ends of the political spectrum, Modesto Abety and Maria Alonso-Martinez can agree on at least one crucial issue -- the state of children today.

Children are the largest sector of Americans living in poverty and have been put on the back burner by politicians and their supporters, said Abety during a keynote address at the University of Miami Minority High School Journalism Workshop.

"I'm a Republican and Mo's a Democrat," Alonso-Martinez said. "We don't think the same way, but as long as we're in agreement on how children need help, two sides can work together."

The two have worked with the Dade County Children's Services Council since it began in 1990. A part of the Metro-Dade County Department of Youth and Family Development, the council is made up of community leaders including the state attorney, the Dade County school superintendent, the Dade County Manager and other leaders. Members focus on collaboration between public and private sectors, improving the service and availability of programs, and advocating for children.

Making children the highest priority among citizens is the council's task.

"I think the state has gotten away from funding preventive services before children reached the age of 5. The safety net for the elderly is very strong, but elderly people vote.

Children, mostly poor, do not have the ability to organize themselves. [Families] are too busy surviving," said Alonso-Martinez. Knowledge about the problems children face in terms of health, safety, family, education, and risks has never been more widespread. Yet dedication to correcting problems is limited.

Rather, said Abety, selfishness and political agenda are increasing.

"I think there is an anti-government bias that governments should not be helping people when it's a job for churches," Abety said. "People think about 'those children,' but they have to take personal responsibility."

The return is greater than the investment when legislation focuses on prevention as opposed to treatment, Abety said. Studies show the actual cost of prevention is significantly less than the cost to treat a juvenile offender.

"We're not a poor state. We just treat our children poorly across the board," Abety said.

"We don't pay them attention until they've become involved in juvenile delinquency, when it's too late."

Montage Staff Writer Chimeka Thomas, 17, of Coconut Creek High agrees with the council's message.

"Children didn't need advocates like this before, but now organizations like this are necessary," said Thomas. "If children don't have a foundation from the beginning then the problems that they will have in the future will be worse than the problems we're dealing with now."

Alonso-Martinez, council's chairperson, deals with children's problems as a volunteer. Her "real job" is also in social services. She is chief operating officer for the Northwest Dade Center in Hialeah, a community mental health center for all ages. Before she became involved in social services, Alonso-Martinez worked in politics, acting as Republican Party chair for Dade County for two years in the late '80s.

"That was my first experience in the public sector," Alonso-Martinez said. "I got involved thinking I would make some major changes in the party and the community, but the political party was not conducive."

For Abety advocacy is a full-time job. With a staff of only one, he serves as director of the council. Although social services were not initially Abety's career preference, today he teaches about them as an adjunct professor of child and family social policy at Florida International University.

"I started as a social worker with the public housing authority. I didn't want to be one. I came from a journalism background," said Abety, 46, who has a 22-year-old daughter. "I developed passion during the course of the job."

Abety's daughter gives him a sense of the need to give back to the community and others less fortunate.

"The growing level of poverty is permitting too many children to grow up poor," said Abety.

Dade County, because of its diverse population, is unusual in its needs for children.

Immunization and bilingual education are more in demand in Dade because of the large immigrant population. Yet since welfare policy was de-nationalized and delegated to states under the Reagan administration, each Florida county receives an equal amount of dollars regardless of size or makeup. Thus large and ethnically diverse counties like Dade with special needs are left fewer funds than smaller counties with less need.

"If you live in Florida you're in trouble. We're just not progressive," Alonso-Martinez said.

With the gradual dismantling of the welfare system Abety and Alonso-Martinez worry about the thousands of women and their children currently on welfare who will be affected and left without assistance.

"If you get off welfare rolls you're impacting housing, child care, medical services, and employment," Alonso-Martinez said.

Both child advocates agree that politicians are aware of children's needs but are failing to act.

"It's a matter of getting decision-makers to see children in other than partisan political terms," Abety said. "Kids are not Republican or Democrat."