I have been receiving letters from sixth grade students at Sioux Trail School on legislation that they would like to see enacted. Their main topics were: prohibiting smoking around children and in parks, helping the homeless, and lots on distracted driving behaviors. Another idea was to make it illegal to drop cigarette butts around trails and in parks. Yet another wants more containers for plastic bags available so there wouldn’t be so much litter.
As a follow-up, I had the privilege of meeting with the students at their school this morning. I asked how many of them did see people smoking in parks and I was shocked when most of the students raised their hands. I guess we still have a lot of educating to do with adults. It certainly seems like sixth graders understand the problems caused by second-hand smoke. It is impressive to receive the letters and see how aware these young people are about the environment in which they live.