Sixth-Grader Speaks at Anti-Smoking Rally in Washington

A sixth-grader at Dickerson Elementary School in Buena Park asked U.S. presidential candidates on Wednesday to “please make laws to stop smoking everywhere” at a rally in Washington for Kick Butts Day.

Twelve-year-old Atyah Hadaddin of Stanton and 14-year-old Megan Weaver of Canton, Ohio, were flown to the nation’s capital after winning a nationwide letter-writing contest sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The contest asked kids to “tell the next president of the U.S. what they think about tobacco.”

Hadaddin and Weaver read their letters before Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, the Washington Redskins’ Darrell Green and 400 local students.

“I am only 12, but the ad for Basic cigarettes sounds great,” Hadaddin read. “I want the best things in my life. If my parents and teachers didn’t teach me the facts about smoking, these ads would get me to smoke.”

Hadaddin’s and Weaver’s letters were selected from 20,000 written by youngsters across the country.

“We’re all still in shock,” said Hadaddin’s sixth-grade teacher, Gordon Hild, who had assigned the letter as homework. Organizers told him they picked Hadaddin’s letter because it spoke about tobacco advertising’s effects on kids, said Hild.

The letters will be delivered to presidential candidates’ campaign headquarters, said Kathryn Kahler Vose, vice president of communications and marketing for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Vose said Hadaddin was nervous yet poised as he read his letter. Hadaddin reported that “everything went perfect.”

Judy Silber can be reached at (714) 966-5988.