Grandville — Fifth-graders Logan “Lola” Wallace, Maxwell Tett-Williams and their classmates recently completed a persuasive writing unit at East Elementary School. Teacher Samantha Iciek received permission from Lola, Maxwell and both their parents to share the final drafts of their persuasive essays with School News Network.
The dangers of cigarette smoking
By Logan Elizabeth Wallace
Shockingly, around eight million people die from smoking or exposure to smoking every year. I firmly believe that smoking should be banned. I believe this because smoking can damage your lungs, discarded cigarettes are a fire hazard, smoking can cause cancer, and, if you think that smoking only affects you, you’re very wrong.
My first reason is that smoking can damage your lungs. For instance, it can damage your small air sacs, called alveoli. This is the cause of the most lung cancer in the entire world. For example, according to the article Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking, “Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.”
Another reason is discarded cigarettes are a fire hazard. Cigarettes cause around 7,800 fires each year. Those fires kill around 275 people yearly. This shows that if everyone stopped smoking, firefighters would have to respond to less fires each year, and less people would die. Also, in the article Cigarettes/ Smoking materials fires it says “if a cigarette is left burning in an ashtray that is piled up with butts, the contents of the ashtray can combust and begin a fire. In addition, if a cigarette is not properly extinguished then tossed into the landscape or the roadway, it may burn long enough to ignite the contents around it. Also, in a recent interview with Annasti Saiz, she says “one time, around last year, my dad was smoking and couldn’t find his lighter, so he lit it on the stove. The fire alarm went off for 20 minutes straight. Our landlord called us to inform us of the situation. There was a ton of smoke, and I had to wait in the car alone. It ended up okay, but our pets could barely see for two entire days.” This real life example of fires cigarettes can cause is an important reminder that even if you have never experienced it, it does happen and we should definitely remind ourselves of this more often.
In addition, smoking can cause cancer, heart diseases, and problems in the immune system. “Poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the body’s immune system, making it harder to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells keep growing without being stopped,” says the article Smoking and Cancer. Smoking can damage your immune system, and since your immune system is what helps protect your body from sickness, you will be sick more often. Also, smoking can cause 15 different types of cancer. (nose and sinuses, mouth, pharynx, [upper throat] larynx, [voice box] esophagus, [food pipe] lung, liver, stomach, kidney, pancreas, bowel, ovary, bladder, cervix, and some types of leukemia).
My final reason is if you think that your smoking only affects you, you’re wrong. The smoke that comes from cigarettes kills many people each year. Have you ever seen a no smoking sign? These signs are not only because cigarettes smell terrible, they also impact others’ health. For instance, exposure to smoking can cause heart attacks or strokes. Another example of this is when kids are exposed to smoking it can cause ear infections , shortness of breath, and can damage their eyes.
Again, smoking is harmful and should not be allowed. As responsible adults, we have to stop smoking. Do you really want your children to die prematurely because they grew up watching you smoke, so they thought it was okay, and died because of it. Stop smoking now, and you could save multiple lives.
The best trampoline
By Maxwell Tett-Williams
Do you imagine your future kids to feel safe on their trampolines and also want your children to have fun? I believe that above ground trampolines are better and have better value than inground trampolines. My first reason why they are better is that above ground trampolines can hold more than inground trampolines. Also my second reason is that in a scenario where a child falls off a trampoline the trampoline with a net is a better option. My last reason is that above ground trampolines are easier to install than inground trampolines.
My first reason is that above ground trampolines can hold more than inground trampolines. In my experience when I was setting up my above ground trampoline with my family in my backyard the material was heavy and was made out of metal so it showed it can hold a lot of weight. According to the article “users need to avoid wearing clothes that could damage the trampoline bed, including those with rivets or buttons”.Trampoline socks or shoes should be worn for an inground trampoline but for above ground trampolines people can be barefoot and don’t need socks or shoes.
My second reason is for instance that if a child falls off an above ground trampoline or an inground trampoline the one with a net around it like a above ground trampoline is a better option for safety. In my experience I have been on both trampolines and I felt much more safer on an above ground trampoline than an inground trampoline than an in ground trampoline. Above ground trampolines are safe for tiny children and small dogs and cats, but on an inground trampoline a small child can accidentally bounce off the trampoline and plummet to the ground.
In addition when installing an in ground trampoline into the ground it could be hard to find a place to put it in your backyard and it also takes more effort to put an inground trampoline in the ground instead of a above ground trampoline. When building an inground trampoline into the ground people have to dig a giant hole but on an above ground trampoline all you have to do is to set it up with no holes needed.
In a recent interview with a classmate Parker he told me that even though he did not build an above ground trampoline his dad did and said it was easy to install because a lot of the pieces were already ensemble. Parker grandpa is good with tech, building, and working things so it was easy for them.
Because of these reasons this is why I think above ground trampolines are better options than inground trampolines. As parents who want to protect their kids but also want them to have fun, you want to pick the best option for your kids. This shows that if you want them to be safe on a trampoline I believe that above ground trampolines are the best option for trampolines. This essay is for consumers and parents.
