Good, clean fun at 1 a.m.

story by Sydney Shain

It’s late at night. You’re planning on spending time with friends, and all of you want to go somewhere to eat. Or, you have a test coming up and are so far behind on homework that it will take a few hours to complete. In most situations, your destination options for these two scenarios are wide open. But what if it’s past 10 p.m. and most restaurants, coffee shops, libraries, and drive-thrus are closed for the night?

For those with strict curfews, time for late-night study and socialization must be carefully managed.

“My curfew is set to 11:30 normally,” said Grace Fawcett, Sr. “If I go out on school nights, I have to be home by 10 at the very latest. My curfew varies depending on where I’m going and who is there,” In Fawcett’s case, her strictest curfew is on school nights, leaving all the fun to be had on weekends. Though her curfew is earlier than some of her friends’ curfews, Fawcett still enjoys a late night out on occasion getting something to eat.

“Restaurants late at night have a totally different ambiance, and I love it,” Fawcett said. “There is something special about quiet evenings in a coffee shop or a restaurant that makes the experience much more impactful.”

Other students have the opportunity to stay out later, sometimes to the times that they choose.

“My curfew is typically anywhere from 12:00-2:00,” said Kennedy Shockley, Sr. “This also depends on if I have something going on the next day.

This leaves Shockley with the opportunity for late-night study or socializing.

“Most of the time my mom doesn’t really care what time i’m home on the weekends if I don’t have anything going on the next day,” said Shockley.

Many students use this as an opportunity to study or play board games at Java Break. Some parents extend curfews for study nights, knowing that Java Break is open 24 hours. Not all parents do, however.

“My mom would probably question whether or not I was actually studying so she would probably expect me to still be home at the same time,” said Shockley.

Then there are the in-betweeners, whose curfews usually are somewhere in the middle of the range. Taylor Huff is an example of one of those, but she said that it doesn’t really affect what she gets to do in the evenings. At least, for the most part.

“I hate being grounded, it’s actually the worst thing ever, so I usually comply with my mom’s curfew. Unless I’m in Lawrence eating, I’m never really doing much past 1:30 to 2:00 anyways,” says Huff.

No matter what you choose to do in Lawrence, whether it’s eating, playing board games at Java, staying a little later than everyone else at Pizza Shuttle on Friday nights, or even for students who don’t spend time in Lawrence in the evenings at all, there’s one thing these students can agree on. Being out at such late times seems to lead to better conversation, a higher level of concentration due to less distraction, or perhaps it makes the food taste better.

“When we go, depending on what time we leave Eudora, we might not get back to town until 2:00 a.m. or so,” said Huff. “I love being on Mass street late at night, the vibe is so great and it’s a much more calm type of environment.”