There is no particular age limit to pick up a cause and fight for it. All you need is a determination to make a difference in the society. Take Malala for instance. In the present, children are so often engaged in school activities that the ailments of society, remain a topic they study in a textbook.
Amidst all of this, here is a young girl who has decided to take up a cause, create awareness about it and fight against it. This little girl, Vidhi Kamath, studying in Grade 7 at ‘Our Own English High School’ in Sharjah has shown the will to make a difference. At a mere 12 years of age, as a member of group Green Globe, she visited a Labor Camp to create awareness on Smoking.
To further her cause she has written an essay and wishes that the world reads about her fight and why she is creating awareness against smoking. Here is what she has to say:
Smoking Thrills but Kills
– An essay by Vidhi Kamath –
“Cigarettes are a classy way to commit suicide”, Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream.
I visited Shobha Engineering Group with Green Globe. We all had to make a poster related to smoking or alcohol. It was a really interactive session. Many people spoke in Hindi and English, there was also many skits related to alcohol. We all tried our best to bring awareness in the laborers, but the rest is up to them. There were many laborers who asked many questions. We can quit smoking by either chewing a carrot or a dark chocolate.
Smoking doesn’t only harm them but also does harm the atmosphere and people who inhale the smoke. I have seen in many places that there is a smoking zone, which is indeed really good. The effects of smoking are common and dangerous but what most people don’t realize, secondhand and third hand smoking is just as bad. Cigarette smoke contains around 4,800 chemicals, 69 of those can cause cancer. The effects of using tobacco are wide and varied but all of them are dangerous to every user’s health.
The smoke that is released from the cigarette has the possibility of infiltrating the homes where young children are playing. Second-hand smoke is not something to joke about. That other person could be a baby sleeping in the apartment next door, a teenager doing homework in the floor directly above the smoker, or even an elderly lady knitting in her room across the hall. It could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Only the actual smoker has the power to stop second and third hand smoke. They have to take the initiative to not harm other people and quit bringing dangerous tobacco to the lives of innocent people. There are many people who smoke in public places such as Lifts, malls where, when many families come, it will harm their health. We have to protect the environment in such cases.
Let us all understand the earnest cause behind this attempt made by a seventh grader and help her make the society a better and healthier place to live in.
