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GENERATION LIFE TEACHES CHASTITY TO PHILLY TEENS

The Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y: every age group has its label and, supposedly, its distinctive characteristics.

A five-year-old pro-life group in Philadelphia goes by the name it would like the present generation of high school and college students to be: Generation Life.

Generation Life was born at an international pro-life conference in Dublin, Ireland, in 1999, when three American pro-lifers looked around and realized that every speaker and leader there was in their mid- to late twenties--except for the ones from the United States.

Patrick Mahoney, a Presbyterian minister, was the youngest of all the U.S. speakers. He was 46.

Alarm bells went off for Mahoney and pro-life activists Michael McMonagle and Brandi Swindell: where was America's next generation of pro-life leaders?

Back in the U.S., the pro-lifers set to work to remedy this vacuum. In 2000, at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Generation Life made its debut.

Hundreds of young people took part in several days of public activism, seminars, rallies, concerts, and a massive life chain on the streets of the city.

Today, Generation Life has a full-time, paid staff of five young adults, funded by the Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Their aim is to recruit, motivate and train high school and college students to spread the pro-life and chastity messages to their peers.

They are an ecumenical Christian group, but Philadelphia's pro-life movement has a strong Catholic component, and all five staffers are Catholic.

"We're swimming upstream against the media, the entertainment industry and pop culture," says Director Kim Marshall. And yet, she says, "We've had very little opposition."

High school and college students know all about condoms and AIDS, but know very little about the realities of abortion or the positive benefits of chastity. When they learn the facts, they see the value of the Generation Life "vision," says Kim.

Generation Life's track record is impressive. They are active in 28 of the 40 private and parochial high schools in Philadelphia, bringing speakers to their classrooms and retreats, and inviting students to participate in prayer vigils and other activities.

"We've developed great relationships with the faculties and students," says Kim.

Public schools are tougher to get into: "You have to deal with school boards and health teachers" and much more red tape, she explains.

But Generation Life has managed to overcome these hurdles and has established ongoing after-school programs at North Penn and Haverford public high schools.

Of course, their message has to be tailored differently.

"Our program, 'Choosing the Best,' is designed to get the message of sexual purity into the public schools. We defend purity on intellectual, emotional, physical and social bases" rather than spiritually and morally, says Kim.

GL has also brought its chastity message to schools in Lancaster and Allentown, Pa., and in New Jersey and Delaware. Plans are in the works for visits to two Baltimore schools in the spring.

In addition, GL works with pro-life groups at seven or eight college campuses.

They helped bring the Genocide Awareness Project to Temple University last year and to Penn State in October.

A typical Generation Life work week is impressive. For the week of November 16, for example, the schedule included:

Sunday, November 16: Talks at parish masses and breakfasts; two youth group presentations (one grade school, one high school).

Tuesday, November 18: Meeting at University of Pennsylvania to discuss initiatives.

Wednesday, November 19: Planning meeting at a Norristown, Pa., high school.

Friday, November 21: Regular staff prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood.

Saturday, November 22: High school and college students join in Mass and a prayer vigil at Philadelphia Women's Center, followed by a Show the Truth Tour in downtown Philadelphia.

The week's schedule also included a presentation to a large CCD group in New Jersey and two college classroom presentations.

Generation Life holds annual summer leadership conferences to teach high school and college students and young adults how to spread the chastity and pro-life messages.

"We just did a huge rally in Washington, D.C., on October 11," says Kim.

"We had 250 young people from high schools and colleges in the Philadelphia area, plus students from Franciscan University in Steubenville."

The rally, called Day One, began with a morning vigil at Planned Parenthood, then moved to the west side of the Capitol Building for a three-hour rally with motivational speakers.

The event climaxed with a meeting at a nearby Holiday Inn to plan future action.

Generation Life is planning an even bigger Day One rally in the nation's capital for October 2004.

Kim exudes optimism for the future.

Generation Life's vision of "a world saturated with respect for human life and sexuality" is good, and young people readily respond to it, she says.

"You present the vision, and then you give the students an invitation: Can you be courageous? Will you stand with me in front of Planned Parenthood, at the GAP display, on the Show the Truth Tour?"

For many young people of Philadelphia and beyond, the answer has been a resounding "Yes!"

For more information on Generation Life see www.genlife.org.