Probationary Consumption License Initiative

The PCL was conceived by a group of parents who have recently raised children into adulthood and have seen enough to recognize that current efforts to control the abuse of alcohol by young people are not succeeding.  

 

As young parents, we learned quickly that our children were going to test limits, and we took pride in that. Our role was to help them grow, challenge themselves, and expand their boundaries, but with some reasonable controls. We learned that one of the basic rules of parenting was to reward your child with a new privilege with the understanding that we could take that privilege away if the rules were broken. "You're a big girl now and can cross the street alone. But cross without looking both ways and you will not cross the street again!" This is Parenting 101, and it still can apply to children in high school and beyond. The privileges have changed, as have the rewards, but also so have the risks. 

 

We are responsible and participatory parents of high school, college and professional offspring who no doubt experimented with alcohol while in high school, sometimes overdid it, maybe got into trouble, were not unlike many teens, and eventually shared their experiences with us.

 

Our sons and daughters have witnessed 'good' students, even those who were active in zero-tolerance programs in high school, end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning once in college because they did not know their limits, or due to peer pressure. They've held the hair back for drunk girlfriends throwing up in the toilet, or have been the one throwing up. They've done stupid things and thankfully survived. They've witnessed or been involved with alcohol related sexual abuse. They've known teens whose lives have been permanently affected by alcohol related incidents.  Have they told us everything? Probably not, but they've told us enough to make us think and prompt us to reconsider the effectiveness of current restrictions on alcohol consumption. 

 

Are you one of us? Please let us know and join our cause! 

 

Please view PCL FAQ for proposed restrictions and accessibility of alcohol for 18-20 year olds.

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