By Culture of Life Studies Program staff
It’s hard to keep young children from being traumatized by the horrors of the abortion industry and the culture of death. But the reality is that, sooner or later, your kids will learn about abortion. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure that your children have a firm foundation in the culture of life.
Children of all ages should learn about fetal development.
It’s never too early to start building a foundation for the respect of human dignity. When a kindergartner knows that the preborn fetus is a baby, he’ll carry that knowledge with him through his entire life, especially when the culture of life is reinforced along the way. When kids get to high school and someone lies to them by saying “it’s not a baby,” they need the skills to answer with conviction and not be swayed with popular opinion against fact. Would the selling of baby parts be an issue today if every politician knew and believed that the preborn baby is a person?
The science of fetal development helps students understand several important things. First of all, each of us is uniquely created by God. We are each unrepeatable beings made in the image and likeness of God. Preborn babies are not blobs of tissue or “products of conception;” preborn babies are people who breathe and move and grow. Second, there is nothing “potential” about life in the womb. A preborn baby isn’t a potential life; a preborn baby is a person. Understanding the beauty of life in the womb is key to building a culture of life in the lives of your students.
At an early age, learning about preborn babies does not need to ruin a child’s innocence.
Sometimes the announcement that you are pregnant with a new sibling is the perfect spark to start a conversation about the beauty of human development in the womb. Starting to educate your children on the beauty of life while they are at a young age gives you the freedom to explain key concepts in as much depth as necessary at the time without ruining your child’s innocence. Children at that young age are in awe of the miracle of life. You can use their natural curiosity to direct them toward the scientific aspects of fetal development and experience those “wow” moments together, while saving conversations about human sexuality for later in their education. Even if miscarriage sadly occurs, talking about preborn babies can help children celebrate the life of their preborn brother or sister no matter how short it is. Naming children who were miscarried, and involving your living children in the grieving process, can also be a beautiful way to celebrate their short lives and drive home the fact that human life is precious at all stages of development. Expose your children to sonograms, the Baby Steps DVD, fetal models, or other hands-on visuals to help them understand and visualize the stages of human development on a level they can understand.
While children are naturally curious, it is important to remember that most children are far more interested in the science of preborn life than in any sexually related topics. At their young age, it can even be detrimental to their development to talk about mature topics too soon. If the “how babies are made” conversation arises before you feel your child is quite ready, here are some points you can use to lay a foundation for future conversations.
- In the Bible, God said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jeremiah 1:5). God is the Creator of all life. He had a special plan for you and every person on earth. Before you were born, God selected your mother and your father. Then God blessed the love of your mother and father and formed you—a person so small and so special that we would need a microscope to see you. In the very beginning, before your mother even knew you were growing inside of her, God knew you were there, and He loved you.
- Each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. We are unique and unrepeatable. There will never be another YOU in all of history.
- Your father and mother loved each other so much that God made you and put you in your mommy’s tummy.
- Life is a miracle! Every person in the world today is a miracle created by God, which is why human life has dignity and deserves respect.
With the right tools, teaching about human development is easy.
With all of the supplements in CLSP’s Life Primer series, our goal is to help students in kindergarten through 3rd grade learn about the miraculous beauty of all human life, from newly created humans all the way to senior citizens. Use Life Is Precious, the Baby Steps DVD, as well as our free puzzles and coloring pages with your students to teach them about the culture of life.
The culture of death has seeped into our schools, our communities, and our homes. Isn’t it time we do something about it and fight back by teaching our children the truth so they can grow up as life defenders from the youngest ages?
This article was originally published on the Culture of Life Studies Program website at cultureoflifestudies.com/blog/why-you-should-teach-fetal-development-to-your-young-children/.