For the better part of three decades, a series of television commercials directed at American parents went like this:

“It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”

These messages, primarily directed at parents in major cities, ran from the late 1960s through the late 1990s.

To most folks, these commercials hardly seemed necessary. Back then, few kids were anywhere but home at 10 p.m. most days. And if they weren’t, most parents knew pretty much where they were and when they would return.

So did the kids. Most of us in those days were raised by parents who would not permit their kids to run the streets at all hours. So a drop-dead time to be back from an activity was non-negotiable.

But that was a very different time. Life was simpler. No cellphones, no internet and no social media. And don’t underestimate the fact that parents back then seemed far less interested in being their children’s “friends” than many now raising kids.

So where are your kids right now?

Apparently, the answer is “I don’t know” for a lot of parents. That’s why Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and several other city and Mahoning County officials hosted a news conference Monday at Youngstown City Hall. They converged to remind city residents that a Youngstown ordinance states that all city residents under the age of 18 are to be off the streets between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Statistics show that much of the street crimes in Youngstown — including some homicides — are committed by juveniles. These crimes are not unique to Youngstown. Similar numbers can be found in Warren and other cities across Ohio.

On Sunday night, the final night of the Trumbull County Fair was disrupted by a fight involving 15-20 people. As the parties were being escorted from the fair by Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bazetta Township police officers, a 15-year-old girl from Cortland reportedly tried to push her way back into the fairgrounds. After that unsuccessful attempt, she began swinging her purse and struck a mounted deputy and her horse twice. The girl also punched the horse on its chest, neck and shoulder.

Nothing like picking up a felony charge at 15. Eventually that case will make its way through the juvenile court like so many others every year. But when will the parents of miscreant children face any accountability for the actions of their criminal kids?

That can’t happen soon enough for us. In some places, it actually has happened. Repeated violations of the Youngstown curfew, for example, can result in charges against parents or guardians.

According to a story in Tuesday’s edition of The Vindicator, Mahoning County Juvenile Court Magistrate Gina DeGenova said the city ordinance gives the police and court the right to cite or arrest adults whose children are repeatedly violating the curfew or causing other problems. The first offense is a minor misdemeanor, but she said a second offense within a year can lead to an aggravated first-degree misdemeanor charge. DeGenova said the county has put parents in jail.

“From the court’s perspective, we will review each case and we have had situations in the past where parents did receive a term of incarceration because we have repeat offenders and the facts justified that sanction,” she said.

It’s possible that these parents know what their kids are up to, but don’t care. It’s also possible they don’t know. Either way, lousy parenting should not be tolerated. Parents should be held accountable.

“You keep saying that’s where it begins but if there are no repercussions, we’re just going to have an endless cycle of picking the kid up and bringing them home,” said Youngstown Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward.

“There has to come a time when we take a little harder position so that the police officers aren’t on this endless cycle of picking the kid up and taking them home and then an hour later he’s back on the street.”

We couldn’t agree more. It’s beyond time to call on officials in other places to follow Youngstown’s lead, enforce juvenile curfews and hold scofflaw parents accountable.

As Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel used to say when he was coaching football, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”

Especially for kids.