Marcia Burgard heard a series of ewws and yucks as she talked to a group of third-graders in the Lakeview School District about something millions of Americans do each day -- smoke cigarettes.

Ms. Burgard, a tobacco prevention program adviser for the Penn State Cooperative Extension office, met with the students Wednesday for Kick Butts Day. Each year, Americans are urged to give up smoking for the day but Ms. Burgard is spending the whole week in the district talking to all of the students.

"These kids are so smart. They're more aware than we though they would be," Ms. Burgard said. She said they're becoming well educated about the dangers of smoking and ask good questions.

When asked, many students raised their hands to say they live with a smoker. The kids gave a wide variety of problems they have from the second-hand smoke including coughing and asthma, ear aches and stinky clothes.

The kids knew tobacco comes from a plant and that it causes cancer.

Ms. Burgard gave each students a straw and asked them to put the straw in their mouths, plug their noses and breathe through the straw. The kids said the exercise made it hard to breathe and made their throats hurt and caused them to cough.

There are 4,000 different chemicals in cigarettes, including ammonia, embalming fluid and the toxins that go into rat poison and bug spray, Ms. Burgard said.

She told the students that 4,000 kids under the age of 18 try cigarettes each day and of those 3,000 continue to smoke, Ms. Burgard said.

"There's a lot of concerns with these kids," Ms. Burgard said.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com

030401