The city's youth curfew still bars those ages 16 and younger from being outside with minimal exceptions from between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. But after council members raised concerns about young people being criminalized for violating it, pointing out language that says children could be charged and taken to court for breaking curfew, city officials decided to take that language out.
Instead, the ordinance will be revised so that the parents and guardians of children violating the city's curfew could be charged instead.
"To me, it just sounds like you're working backwards," said Swan Davis, an executive leader of Let's Make it Happen Together. "If you really want to get structure, we build activities that's going to structure them first."
Those who spoke to ABC11 expressed support for the curfew, but some critics, such as Davis, a youth advocate, were concerned. Davis argued that there needed to be more events and safe spaces in the city to keep young people safe and productive -- rather than resorting to penalizing parents for their children being out in the community.
"If you're going to discipline them, and say, 'we're going to charge your guardians and parents without even giving an opportunity to say, 'well, what do we have in place that's going to keep them out of trouble?' I just think we're working backwards.'"
Angela Tatum Malloy, the founder of Momma's Village, questioned how effective the curfew would be. She said there isn't enough data informing the ordinance.
"Require some measurable results. Let's make sure that the organizations that are participating, that they are capturing those at-risk youth," Malloy said. "So, have some kind of criteria requirements to make sure that we're not just capturing students that would normally not be in any kind of at-risk activities."
The city says it is hosting several family events at recreation centers this summer, starting on June 28, to spread awareness about the guidelines of the ordinance. Officers won't issue charges for curfew violations until July 9.
Officials at City Hall say they hear critics' concerns.
"We want to ensure that public safety is our No. 1 goal for residents and for those who are concerned that this may present an opportunity on the negative aspect of things, that is not the intent at all," said Loren Bymer, the marketing and communications director for the City of Fayetteville. "Our officers want to engage with young people. They want to ensure that residents are safe, and this is just one more step to ensure that we have the opportunity and put the mechanisms in place to do that."