Lung Health News, Spring / Summer 2005
When Olive Vista Middle School teacher Reed Moran welcomed his new English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students to class last fall, the textbooks hadn’t arrived yet. So he assigned his sixth-graders a writing project that would help him assess their reading and writing levels, but on the way it empowered them to realize they do have a voice and they can make a difference.
Moran had clipped a September 10, 2004, Los Angeles Times editorial titled “Kids Face Danger in the Air,” which focused on results from the Children’s Health Study showing air pollution can cause permanent lung damage in children and the need to improve air quality. The editorial encouraged governments to pass a variety of measures to reduce air pollution, specifically diesel exhaust.
The Children’s Health Study is a 10-year study that included 5,500 children from 12 Southern California communities. It found that children’s exposure to air pollution caused a significant decrease in lung function, making them more susceptible to lung diseases and breathing disorders.
“I just thought, well, kids are the ones being harmed by this and they ride the school bus, which is diesel, so this is an issue that truly affects them,” Moran explains. “My kids were so amazed and excited to learn that as sixth-graders – and English-learners – they could have some voice on an issue that affects their own health and that of their community.”
Sixth-Graders Write Letters
Moran and his students gathered information from the American Lung Association and discussed the editorial in class, breaking into small groups to brainstorm solutions. Each and every one was then assigned the task of writing a letter to the editor expressing his or her view on the issue. And the results were impressive.
“I don’t want to grow up unhealthy because of air pollution,” wrote one student. “I think we can solve the problem of diesel exhaust and unhealthy air by using buses with clean natural gas and by using electric motors.”
Another offered this solution: “I think we can solve the problem of diesel exhaust and unhealthy air by convincing the Governor or President to change the engines of the buses. They can put electric engines instead of diesel gas.”
Moran was so impressed by his students’ efforts he sent the letters to the California Air Resources Board, the statewide government body responsible for implementing policies that reduce air pollution, as well as to elected officials, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman. The Governor responded with a note to the class while Congressman Sherman sent each of his young constituents a personalized letter thanking them for taking a stand along with a copy of a booklet titled “How Our Laws Are Made” to help them understand our nation’s lawmaking process.
The American Lung Association of Los Angeles County donated 120 frames so the Sylmar students could have a framed copy of the Governor’s letter and their own letter from Congressman Sherman.
“This civics lesson had an incalculable impact while giving them an incentive to learn a new language in order to be effective participants in their own future,” Moran says. “It’s great when we connect with kids who, in the near future, will be making these decisions at the ballot box, affecting the course of environmentalism for the next generation.”
To find out what you can do during the American Lung Association’s Clean Air Month in May and throughout the year to improve air quality and health, visit www.californialung.org
