PASADENA, Calif. — Only weeks after 14-year-old McKay Hatch announced he was taking a stand against bad language, swearing and unclean jokes, the "No Cussing Club" he organized spread to 16 states and into Mexico, the United Kingdom and China.
Hundreds have logged on to his Web site to hear the club's theme song with its catchy chorus of: "Ya wanna hang with us? Don't cuss." The "No Cussing Challenge" has been accepted not only by many of McKay's peers, but also by many adults, including government and civic leaders such as Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff and South Pasadena Police Chief Dan Watson. McKay was recently invited to address attendees at the Muslim American Society parenting conference in Los Angeles.
McKay, a member of the South Pasadena Ward, Pasadena California Stake, explained how the No Cussing Club came about: "When I moved from elementary to middle school, a lot of my friends I thought would never cuss started cussing and using bad language all the time. They saw it as the only way they could fit in."
Bothered by what he constantly heard around him, McKay asked his friends to stop.
"They were shocked. They did it so much, they didn't even realize they were doing it and they didn't know how to stop," he said.
McKay's own convictions, he said, stem from "what I learned in Scouting, from the gospel and what it teaches, and from my mom and dad teaching me I need to be myself."
So, supported by his parents, Brent and Phelecia, McKay set out to create a local No Cussing Club that would meet monthly to encourage and provide support for those who wanted to clean up their language. Soon, the idea spread as T-shirts were made, a Web site launched, and the song written by McKay, his father and his uncle Cary Inouye began to catch on.
Soon, McKay saw added benefits of his efforts.
"Through the No Cussing Challenge, I realized that I could use positive peer pressure on my friends. If my friends could say no to cussing, how much easier it will be for them to say no to drugs, violence and pornography," he said.
