{"id":14231,"date":"2012-03-31T20:37:55","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T00:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.liveactionnews.org\/?p=14231"},"modified":"2014-06-23T01:25:45","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T05:25:45","slug":"the-voice-of-a-new-generation-providing-youth-with-the-tools-to-speak-out-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/the-voice-of-a-new-generation-providing-youth-with-the-tools-to-speak-out-for-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The voice of a new generation: providing youth with the tools to speak out for life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Chicago-based Crusaders for Life club at the 2012 March for Life. Jansen shares: “GFL was instrumental in getting Crusaders for Life started. I spoke at their very first meeting in January 2009, at which time I presented them with our Pro-Life Club Curriculum. Since then, they’ve consistently been one of the most active pro-life clubs we’ve ever worked with.”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYoung people are not the \u2018future of the pro-life movement\u2019.\u00a0 Rather, they have an essential role in the pro-life movement\u00a0right now<\/span><\/strong>.\u201d So says John Jansen<\/a>, co-director of Generations for Life. A short decade ago, in 2002, Generations for Life was founded \u201cas the youth outreach of the Pro-Life Action League.\u201d Jansen allowed me to interview him, providing us all with a look behind the scenes. Generations for Life has already involved hundreds of people in its work while continuing to grow.<\/p>\n

Through years of working with youth (he was a teacher before joining Generations), Jansen has special insight into their importance in the pro-life movement and gave me a special message for them:<\/p>\n

If one of your classmates becomes pregnant, you will often find out about it before your teachers, counselors, or administrators at your school — or maybe even her parents — find out.\u00a0 As a result, you are in a unique position to be able to offer help to someone who may otherwise believe that abortion is her only choice.\u00a0 Sometimes, just telling someone who is pregnant that there is help available at a\u00a0pregnancy resource center<\/a>\u00a0may be enough to save a baby’s life from abortion.<\/p>\n

If you step out in faith and courageously proclaim the pro-life message, you will be amazed at how God will use you. \u00a0Millions of teenagers and young people are \u201cquietly\u201d pro-life, but don\u2019t speak out against abortion for fear that they will be mocked for their beliefs.<\/p>\n

If you take an outspoken pro-life stand, others around you who share your belief will realize they aren’t the \u201conly one,\u201d and your witness will often help inspire them to become more actively involved in the pro-life cause.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you can see, Generations for Life is a group that focuses on action, not just words. According to Jansen, Generations often gives \u201cpro-life and chastity talks to junior high and high school age teenagers\u201d in a variety of settings. If Generations sees an opening, it goes for it. Generations has reached out to public and private schools as well as church youth groups and religious education classes.<\/p>\n

One of the most interesting – and valuable – things about Generations for Life is its Pro-Life Club Curriculum<\/a>. Generations believes that this curriculum, released in 2003, \u201cis the only one of its kind available in the United States.\u201d Hundreds have found this to be a valuable tool for reaching out to youth and giving them a much-needed voice in the movement for life. Generations uses its curriculum to assist teachers, youth ministers, and teens who want to start pro-life clubs at their high schools or churches. Jansen explained to me what the curriculum covers:<\/p>\n

Our Pro-Life Curriculum explains the practical steps for starting a pro-life club, advertising and promoting your club, and fundraising.<\/p>\n

Most of our curriculum, though, is devoted to Club Activities and “Life Topics” that can be discussed at club meetings, along with resources to assist in the discussion of these topics.\u00a0 Topics include:<\/p>\n