MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Common Council on Tuesday night is debating a change to the curfew ordinance.

Council member Jed Sanborn proposed a change to the curfew to keep children 15 and younger off the street after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

It's considered by supporters a minor change to the current curfew, which calls for children 16 and younger to be home by 11 p.m.

The proposed 10 p.m. curfew would only be for children 15 and younger.

On Friday and Saturday, all children 16 and under would have until midnight to be home.

Sanborn said he proposed the plan because police asked him to.

"In a perfect world, we wouldn't have any curfew for anyone. I agree, it should be a parent's decision. Unfortunately, the actions of some kids and the absence of parenting is effecting our neighborhoods. I talked to my constituents who have a lot of problems, and they say this will help," Sanborn said.

Although Andrew Bange is 18, he has a younger brother and said the proposed curfew change isn't the solution.

"I think it's really disrespectful to our youth to treat all of us like criminals. I'm all in favor of controlling vandalism and noise violations and crimes, but I don't think the way to do it is to say no one can be out past 10 on a weeknight," Bange said.

"It's really not something we should be wasting our resources on. Madison's got some actual criminals and we shouldn't be expending police resources targeting youth that typically aren't doing anything," said Erykka Fox, a resident at Tuesday's meeting.

Sanborn said the proposed ordinance change is not about issuing tickets. He said he's hoping the rule alone, not enforcement, will lead to compliance.

The curfew would not apply to students who have work or school functions past 10 p.m., WISC-TV reported.