Thank you, Saugus Speaks Out for coming to the rescue of our children. Thank you, Donna McNeil and Ellen Faiella for having the courage and heart to ask the town’s two governing bodies to pass a bylaw that will say to anyone running a convenience store to leave the selling of beer and wine to the professionals. Our town’s children already seem to have enough accessibility to alcohol. According to studies at Saugus High School, pre-teen and teenage consumption of alcohol is on the rise. It seems every spring and summer we hear horrible stories of teenagers getting arrested for DWIs and getting into car crashes that impact families of people we know. If we in Saugus want to make alcohol, the drug of choice among our teenagers, harder to obtain we must limit and watch over who sells it.

Some would argue, and rightfully so, that education about alcohol should start in and end with the home. I agree, it should, but we all hope what we teach our children will somehow shape and influence their decisions on alcohol. But, as we all know and have experienced for ourselves when we were teenagers, knowing and doing the right thing is not always the same. Peer pressure and trying to look cool sometimes clouds a teenager’s judgment.

What Saugus Speaks Out is trying to do is educate parents and children about the uses of alcohol and drugs. It seems now that at the last board of selectmen meeting, Saugus Speaks Out tried to educate the board of selectmen. Saugus Speaks Out gave a very informative and enlightening speech before the board. After, there was much debate on the wording of a new bylaw to ensure that no convenience stores or supermarkets will sell beer or wine.

The selectmen want to have proper safeguards in place to make sure whoever does sell alcohol has proper training and knowledge to prevent sales to minors. This is the number one priority – prevention. If we can prevent our children from obtaining alcohol, at the very least make it harder than it is now, then hopefully we will see less harm come from it.

I know it used to be a lot harder to obtain beer when I was in high school. It was unheard of in middle schools. That is not the case today. Middle School experts say this is when teenage drinking starts. It’s time to act. After a while, talking becomes just words. Action needs to be taken and taken now. The board of selectmen have started the process and after Town Council John Vasapoli works his magic, it will be up to town meeting. This is the cooperation Board Chairman Donald Wong has been looking for.

Some might argue that a new bylaw is overkill and too much intervention by town government. I say any law by town that could save the life of a child is alright by me!