Hank Smith met Laura Larsen in high school years ago and is still sharing the impact she had on him to people across the country.

Smith’s latest talk on CD, “Thou Shalt Be Nice!” is based off of his own “Laura Larsen Challenge,” a challenge he created based on his own observations of his childhood friend.

Smith describes how he was most affected by those who reached out to others instead of following the flock.

“Laura Larsen … made an impression on me in high school,” he said. “She had a sense of happiness and confidence about her that I never forgot. Her kindness to people, including myself, was a very real force for good in a very insensitive environment.”

His speeches aren’t only for the youth.

“Adults are not immune to the deceptive messages of the media,” he said in a news release to Covenant Communications. “The idea that money, looks or popularity can buy happiness doesn’t end when we become adults. Elder Holland has said that our culture is ‘obsessed with comparing and competing.’ The comparing and competing of the pecking order is something we all deal with on a daily basis.”

The pecking order traditionally refers to chickens leaving the weakest, scrawniest and most pathetic at the bottom of the flock. Smith compares this to the behaviors of middle and high school students.

“Middle school, high school and even college campuses are still harsh places for our youth today,” he said. “It is a fantastic experience to watch teenagers decide they want to be a positive influence in the lives of their peers. They get out of the ‘popularity’ pecking order, see it for what it really is and seek to lift those whose ‘hands hang down’ and those with ‘feeble knees.’”

Smith has worked for EFY, Best of EFY and BYU’s Education Week for years. In 2008 he spoke at the LDS California Scout Encampment with John Bytheway and Elder L. Tom Perry.

“I’ve been playing it [Smith’s CD] in the car when I drive with my daughters who are 13 and 14,” said Maggie Jaymes, a mother of four from Orem. “It’s hilarious and has a great message.”

Smith invites others to rise above the pecking order and just be nice.

“Just think of the good such a large number of youth could do if they decided to take this ‘Laura Larsen’ challenge,” he said.

Helen.Hovenier@gmail.com

Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Jun 2009