UNDERAGE DRINKING
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“CELEBRATE TO LIVE!”
A Personal Message From PA Rep. Elinor Z. Taylor (R-156th District re: Prom & Graduation)
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Dear Friend,
The next several weeks represent an important and festive time in your life. You’ll be experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime pleasures of special school events, graduation and general spring activities that make memories for teenagers.
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Unfortunately, each year there are several young adults who lose their lives when alcohol and drugs are introduced in these celebrations. Disaster results, promising futures are snuffed out and many lives are permanently scarred.
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Thus, as a state legislator, a former educator, and as a mother and grandmother, I want to open my heart to you with this message: “Enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that lie ahead, but celebrate responsibly. CELEBRATE TO LIVE!”
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I won’t play games with you through this note of concern. We all know that alcohol is used by many teenagers. And we know that such use is illegal. I’ve outlined the major components of the new underage drinking law for your review. They are listed on the flip side of this card. If you are underage and you violate this law, you face severe penalties.
With that said, I want to appeal to you as one person to another. My message is that you’ve come too far and you haven’t experienced enough of life to risk everything by using alcohol or drugs. Your future is a horizon that yearns to be explored and
pursued.
So as the prom and graduation season approaches, please consider looking at where you are. Count your achievements, consider your goals and make the sensible choice to “Celebrate to Live.”
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YOU ARE IMPORTANT: YOU ARE VALUED. Thank you.
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Cordially,
Elinor Z. Taylor
FACTS ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA’S UNDERAGE DRINKING LAW:
Act 31 of 1988 attempts to deal with the serious problem of underage drinking. The law is as follows:
• 90-day suspension of Driver’s License and $300 fine for:
— any minor who purchases, consumes, transports or is in possession of alcoholic beverages ($500 fine/l-year suspension for second offenses)
• MINORS CARRYING OR USING FALSE I.D. CARDS:
— face a 90-day license suspension
— are subject to fines up to $500
— possible imprisonment of up to 90 days. (1 year in prison for subsequent offenses)
• MINORS UNDER 16:
— would not be able to obtain a driver’s license for the same period (90 days) of time, and are subject to the same fines.
• Manufacturing or selling a false I.D. Card has been made a criminal offense, punishable by minimum fines of $1,000 for a first offense and $2,500 for subsequent offenses. Maximum penalties are $5,000 in fines and two years in prison.
• Selling or furnishing alcohol to minors carries a minimum $1,000 fine for a first offense and a $2,500 fine for second offenses. Maximum penalties are $2,500 in fines and one year imprisonment.
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YOUR KIDS ARE GETTING THE FACTS - ARE YOU?
DID YOU KNOW that it is a civil liability to sell or provide alcohol to minors, that there is no insurance coverage, arid that, although the minimum fine is $1,000.00 plus court costs, there is no maximum dollar amount? Cases have ranged from $10,000.00 to $197.,000.00 against parents who have allowed alcohol consumption at parties. This offense carries a maximum penalty of one (1) year in jai1 as well.
It is now a crime in Pennsylvania to sell, give, provide, or furnish alcohol to minors.
DID YOU KNOW that your child can be penalized $300.00<and court costs, plus a 90-day driver suspension if he is a passenger in a car with alcohol open or closed or if he is attending an underage party where alcohol is consumed?
DID YOU KNOW that the police can seize a car forever if they find alcohol with minors in the car?
DID YOU KNOW that minors using a false I.D. card or even carrying one in their wallet can face fines up to $500.00, a 90-day license suspension and a possible three (3) month prison sentence?
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We all know the tragedies that can accompany young people when they combine alcohol with a festive occasion such as a prom. Pennsylvania has taken responsible action to provide a deterrent by penalizing young people with license suspension and fines, and parents with high costs and possible imprisonment.
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TALK WITH YOUR KIDS. KNOW ALL THE FACTS
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UNITY, NOT UNIFORMITY
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UNITY OF FAITH IS NOT UNIFORMITY OF FAITH
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Communities of faith in diverse times and places have experienced and expressed faith in diverse ways. Although some are more adequate than others, no theological formulation can say all there is to be said about Jesus Christ. Lamb, prophet, bread, shepherd, word, messiah, servant, king, second Adam, conqueror, priest and many more are all metaphors which open up experiences of the one Jesus Christ. None alone can capture the fullness of human encounter with the crucified and risen one, nor can all together. Neither can all the metaphors be harmonized into a generalized picture. Each gives expression to the
real experience of real people in encounter with the real Jesus Christ.
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All of this may seem self-evident, but it is also self-evident that people tend to prefer the understanding of Jesus Christ which gives expression to their own experience. This is only natural. The problem arises when one group of people assumes its experience to be the only valid experience, exalting and universalizing its own expression of faith. Such exclusivity not only denigrates the faith of others; it also shuts off valid challenges and enrichments which may come from others.
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For example, to affirm Jesus Christ as liberator may be natural for people who experience oppression. For them, traditions of exodus and new exodus are expressions of their hope for freedom from bondage. Jesus Christ as the one who leads people out of political and economic slavery corresponds to their experience in a way it will not for people in power and people who benefit from existing power structures.
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To affirm Jesus Christ as sacrifice for sin may be natural for people who are caught in a web of personal guilt. For them, biblical images of forgiveness and justification are expressions of their freedom from the power of sin. Jesus Christ as the one who bears the sins of the world corresponds to their experience in a way that it will not for people who understand forgiveness as only one aspect of the grace of Jesus Christ.
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However, to claim that liberation is the correct category within which to understand Jesus Christ, or that forgiveness of sins is the correct category, is to denigrate both the experience of other Christians and the testimony of the New Testament. (On the other hand, to claim that both are really the same is to lose the vital connection of each to experience and to reduce the rich testimony of the New Testament to a dull sameness.) Unity of faith does not mean uniformity in faith.
From the report to General Assembly “Is Christ Divided?” on the cover of The Presbyterian Outlook, MAY 23, 1988
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