Never Too Young to Make a Difference!(National Right to Life convention; 'tweens')

"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 ideawe'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 ideasespecially new ideas that involve getting youth excited about the pro-life causeis 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 ...