Well, here’s one novel way to ensure you get the next generation of anti-choice activists started.  Make protesting abortion a way to earn credit at school.

Via the Ottawa Citizen:

Children at a private Catholic school in Winnipeg who attend anti-abortion vigils outside the city’s Health Sciences Centre are receiving community service credits for their participation.

Principal Dave Hood of Christ the King School said Tuesday that joining the vigils is a voluntary and family decision. But he’s considering it as an official school activity as early as next year. It’s a prayer vigil, Hood said. “We’re not there to block anyone.”

Hood has talked to the teacher responsible for the students’ community service activities, and they’ve agreed that if any students take part in the vigils, that the time would count toward his or her community service.

Christ the King School has about 200 students in kindergarten to Grade 8.

Confession — my daughter just began attending Catholic school this year for pre-K, and one thing that the school has been very understanding about is that, although they teach the scripture and have weekly mass and daily prayer, they know that many of the children attending are not Catholic, and that children at that age should be taught about Christ’s love and God’s protection, not the litany of church sins.

If this happened at my school, and involved kids under the age of 14, I would pull her in a heartbeat, and I think many of my fellow parents would as well.