AVON — It’s not often that a group of teenagers and pre-teens are happy to sit in a crowded room and listen to a politician speak about government and public policy.

But that’s exactly what members of the Generation Joshua Club of Hendricks County did Thursday afternoon at Panera Bread restaurant here, as they listened to Secretary of State Todd Rokita speak about politics and his run for Congress.

The club is part of a national group called Generation Joshua, under the umbrella of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). They meet in Hendricks County as a group of homeschoolers, who focus on Christian values and an interest in the political system.

They are focusing on the Right to Life campaign this year, though they focus on a new topic each year.

Club President Robert Richardson said they’ve also always followed politics and the political process.

“This year we’re focusing on abortion,” Richardson said. “Todd Rokita caught our eye as a speaker. Lots of times we have people in public offices speaking to us. Sometimes it’s hard to learn about your public officers that are local.”

Richardson said Rokita’s speech to the group was “very positive.”

“He stands for everything we stand for, reducing government spending ... he’s for homeschooling, which is positive, and his willingness to say maybe I don’t know everything about (homeschooling), but he’s willing to listen to us,” Richardson said.

He said the group has grown over the past four years that he’s been involved.

“We were a very small group of students,” Richardson said. “We were interested in politics and we learned about Generation Joshua and you can become a member of their organization. We usually operate in parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order, and we have sponsors, but we usually don’t have a lot of parents (at meetings). Usually when we had political speakers, it wasn’t well attended. It’s been an interesting experience.”

As the concern about excessive government spending and corruption in the government has grown over the past few years, Richardson said the group has become more interested in politics.

“It’s a really good experience,” he said. “You can do research on your own, but getting people like Todd Rokita to come and speak is a good experience.”

Rokita told the group about his most recent commercial for his bid for Congress, which features his newborn son.

“His share of the national debt is $40,000 and he has nothing to say about it,” Rokita said. “It is immoral to make you, our future, pay for debt for people today. That’s why I’m running. I’m running to stop that. No one’s for making hard decisions and our national debt is now over $14 billion. With all that’s been promised, that goes over $54 trillion. I can’t even imagine $54 trillion. You’re all going to have to pay for it. Your kids will have to pay for it.”

Rokita answered questions from the group about what the secretary of state office entails and his plans for Congress, should he be elected. He also told the group about the idea of the state legislature picking their districts, how he thinks that is an unfair way of serving in office.

“Right now, small communities are split right down the middle and there is no legal or logical reason,” he said. “These legislators are picking us, and we should be picking them.”

One student asked Rokita about his stance on abortion.

“I am pro life,” he said. “No exceptions. I’m a believer. I don’t value one life over another, even in cases of rape and incest and even if it’s a threat to the mother. It’s not up to us.”

Rokita told the group that he is inspired by their yearn to be involved in the political process.

“I’m really impressed by the questions you’ve asked,” he said. “You give me hope for the future, to get our national debt down, and I hope you all run for office and not make it a career. This is not my career, that’s not what our founding father’s wanted. That’s been completely lost in Washington right now, and you can help bring that back. I’m very confident in this group.”

For more information on the Generation Joshua Club of Hendricks County, visit the website at http://genjhendricks.blogspot.com. To contact the group, e-mail to genj.hendricks@gmail.com.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com