Kids Can Get Involved In Pro-Life Movement Too, Catholic Psychologist Says
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Rochester, MI (November 8, 2010) - The pro-life movement isn’t just for grownups. The earlier kids get involved in defending life, the earlier they can learn the truth about the very real emotional, physical, and spiritual perils of abortion, says Michele Bondi Bottesi M.A., a Catholic psychologist, author, and mother of three.
“Abortion is the humanitarian disaster of our time,” says Michigander Bondi Bottesi, who takes her own children to pray on an easement outside an abortion clinic in a nearby town. “Our children are growing up in a world where the generation before them and their own generation has been impacted so profoundly by this act of violence against the human person since abortion became legal in the United States.”
Her children hold signs that say, “Pray to end abortion” and “Love all life; born and unborn.” She says her children, who age from 11-15, have learned from an early age that despite anything they may hear to the contrary, abortion is not a healthy option.
“Children can get involved in so many ways,” says Catholic pre-teen author Nancy Carabio Belanger, author of Olivia and the Little Way and its newly released pro-life sequel, Olivia’s Gift, both from Harvey House Publishing. “Whether it be writing essays, standing and praying peacefully outside of abortion clinics, praying the rosary for the unborn, or speaking at school about the evils of abortion, it is all important and all necessary.”
Carabio Belanger says the staggering number of abortions in the U.S. alone each year (1.3 million, according to the Pro-Life Action League) was one of the reasons she created a pro-life theme for the pre-teen novel Olivia’s Gift.
“It’s so important that kids know from a very young age that life is a gift from God. I felt that by writing about this in a delicate, yet direct, way as a fiction book, I could reach the kids at their level, in a style they would be comfortable with, through a girl named Olivia. You don’t want to scare them, but they do need to know that destroying life is never acceptable. The younger they learn this, the better.”
“It is vital that parents educate their children throughout their childhood about the destructiveness of abortion in ways that are developmentally appropriate,” says Bondi Bottesi.
Cathy Randazzo, a mother of two sons, agrees. “I believe that most of our behaviors are learned, so I simply try to consistently teach good behavior from an early age. I also believe that children rise to expectation; we should never underestimate the realm of their understanding and abilities,” she says.
The mother from New York takes her teenaged boys with her when she visits the elderly, takes the Eucharist to the homebound or hospitalized, and volunteers at the animal rescue center, in order to respect all stages of life. They also pray the rosary for the unborn, and discuss political candidates’ views on abortion.
“I believe pro-life is a reflection of a person’s morals, values, and respect for self and others. It’s a lifelong process that ultimately reflects who you are and it begins when life itself begins,” Randazzo says.
Carabio Belanger says she hopes her books will inspire kids to get involved in the pro-life movement.
“The pro-abortion people have been trying to ingrain and push their idea of ‘choice’ on our youth for decades,” she says. “As Catholics, we are called to stand up for those who cannot speak, and we can start doing this at any age, in any way we can. My way happens to be through the books I write.”
