ACR 112 (Portantino and Smyth)
Cuss Free Week.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 112, as amended, Portantino. Cuss Free Week.
This measure would designate the first week of March of each year
as Cuss Free Week.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, On June 1, 2007, then 14-year old McKay Hatch founded the
No Cussing Club at his South Pasadena junior high school after
noticing many of his peers were using cusswords and foul language
that created an environment of rudeness and disharmony towards others
on his campus. McKay reasoned that if pupils could say no to
cussing, it would be easier to stay away from drugs, violence, and
pornography and turn their focus to positive aspirations and goals.
"Leave people better than you found them" became the No Cussing Club'
s active motto; and
WHEREAS, Upon founding the No Cussing Club, 50 pupils immediately
joined and membership rapidly spread to other schools, communities,
states, and countries. By 2009, the No Cussing Challenge had grown to
100 clubs in schools and churches worldwide, with 35,000 online
members in 50 states and the countries of Argentina, Australia,
Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,
Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Spain,
Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Its
Internet Web site receives thousands of hits per day with hundreds of
parents, teens, and children taking the No Cussing Challenge online;
and
WHEREAS, While South Pasadena is not the first community to
confront a tradition of rude language, for example, in 2009 Saint
Charles, a suburb of Saint Louis, Missouri proposed a ban on swearing
in bars, and in 2007, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for an
industrywide ban on racially and sexually charged epithets, the No
Cussing Club created a process to help convert foul language to
charitable actions that would raise our spirits in times of economic
uncertainty and frustration; and
WHEREAS, Cusswords and aggressive language are used by bullies to
intimidate their victims. To counter this, the No Cussing Club offers
a workbook that can be downloaded from their Internet Web site and
used to assist teachers and pupils to combat bullying and cyber
bullying; and
WHEREAS, The No Cussing Challenge encourages members of offices,
homes, and schools to place money in a jar with a custom-made label
available from their Internet Web site, www.nocussing.com, when foul
language is used and donate collected funds to charity. This practice
not only helps raise awareness of our wide use of negative language
and how it affects our spirits, but inspires redeemable actions that
benefit charities and nonprofit social programs; and
WHEREAS, The No Cussing Club has been endorsed by government
officials at all levels with some creating cuss-free zones in their
jurisdictions. Promoting the notion that words are powerful tools
that express how we feel about ourselves and the world we live in,
the No Cussing Challenge is a reminder that our ability to uplift,
encourage, and motivate others and improve our community starts with
the words we use and actions we take; and
WHEREAS, The California Legislature invites the people of this
state to take the No Cussing Challenge each year during the first
week of March to improve our relationships, to set a tone of harmony
and connectedness in our communities, and to inspire ourselves to
higher endeavors; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature designate the first week of
March of each year as Cuss Free Week; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare copies of
this resolution for distribution to the California congressional
delegation and others as appropriate.
