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NRL News
Never Too
Young to Make a Difference! “Tweens.” According to spell check, there is no such animal. However, experience tells me differently. In fact, I just spent two days at our Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) state convention surrounded by just such little people. Who are they? Simply put they are (by WRTL’s definition, anyway) nine- to twelve-year-olds. Too old for conventional childcare, but in many cases too young for much of the pro-life content shared at the high school and college level, these kids are certainly old enough to understand that it’s not okay to kill unborn children and people with disabilities. In fact, they are at a perfect age to grasp the concept that life is precious, people are not property, and that when something bad is happening, you should do everything you can to stop it. And believe it or not, they are old enough to make a difference. Of course, this reality didn’t hit us overnight. It took a particularly insightful Teen for Life who noticed that her younger sister and all of her little friends were curious about what she was doing to fight abortion and euthanasia. As she started talking with them about the issues, she realized that they were not too young to “get it” and she helped them start their own group. Under the watchful eye of an adult advisor, Wisconsin’s first Tweens for Life group was started. Four years later, all of the kids in that original group are now full-fledged Teens for Life, but the insightful teen with the initial idea—we’ll call her Amanda (because that’s her name)—is working hard to educate a new group of tweens. While her sister and her friends have moved on to attending WRTL’s teen leadership camps and conventions, Amanda, who is now in college, continues to have a passion for educating the “little ones.” Having learned long ago that embracing new ideas—especially new ideas that involve getting youth excited about the pro-life cause—is a good thing, WRTL started having a special “tween track” at our conventions in 2005. And it just seemed obvious that Amanda should be in charge of that venture. The program has picked up and more and more tweens are becoming educated members of the right to life movement. This year’s convention boasted about a dozen tweens who spent the afternoon learning about how to be pro-life superheroes. (Fun themes, fun snacks, and lots of prizes are key to making such a workshop track a raging success, by the way.) They learned how to speak out on the issues, answer the hard questions (tween style, of course), start their own groups, and make a difference as individuals. In Amanda’s words, “They’re not like any other age group. Their attention span is about ten minutes, so you have to break up the information with fun educational activities and when you start to lose their focus, it’s time to bring out another prize.” And judging from the grins on their faces and the excitement level in the room, she was on the right track. The highlight of this year’s tween convention, reported proudly by Amanda and her cohort Kacie, was when one of the little girls raised her hand to speak. Amanda called on her and the girl addressed her fellow tweens. “How many of you are here because your parents brought you?” Every hand went up. “Okay, how many of you are really glad you came and that you know more about abortion and how you can make a difference?” Again, every hand went up. “It was pretty much a perfect moment,” Amanda said, followed quickly by “boy, am I tired!” Apparently it takes quite a lot of energy to keep up with 12 lively tweens for an entire afternoon, but everyone at WRTL agrees that it is worth the effort. If you are interested in starting a Tweens for Life program in your area, or hosting a tween track at your next state convention, contact us at jlittle@wrtl.org and we’ll ... well, we’ll put you in touch with Amanda—she’s the real expert! Joleigh Little is the Teens for Life director at Wisconsin Right to Life and co-advisor to National Teens for Life with her buddy, Derrick Jones. For more information on National Right to Life or Wisconsin Right to Life’s teen programs, contact us at jlittle@wrtl.org or call (715) 378-4302. |