EDFORD, N.H. - Alan Keyes brought religion back into at least one public school yesterday, as part of his civics lesson to fifth-graders at the Peter Woodbury School.
And while the Republican presidential candidate did not use the word ''abortion'' with the children, his message was clear.
''Now tell me something,'' said Keyes, a talk show host and former United Nations ambassador. ''If I were to lose my mind right now and pick one of you up and bash your head against the floor and kill you, would that be right?''
A chorus of ''no.''
''It's wrong to kill children, isn't it? At what age is it right to kill children? ... How old are you, son?'' Keyes said to one child.
''Eleven,'' the boy answered.
''Think it was OK to kill you when you were 6?'' The child shook his head.
''How old are you?'' he asked another.
''Ten.''
''Think it was OK to kill you when you were 6 months? You sure? Because we live in a country right now where according to some of our courts and some of our politicians, it is OK,'' Keyes said. ''Our rights come from God. We human beings don't have the right to take away that right from any human being, including the human beings who haven't quite got here yet.
''Because we have denied freedom to the children in the womb who haven't yet gotten to this world, freedom will be denied to you and to your brothers and to your sisters and to your children,'' Keyes said.
As Keyes tries to build momentum from his third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses Monday, he has continued to emphasize morality and his opposition to abortion.
But some questioned whether children should be hearing that message. Marcia Hogan, a parent volunteer, said, ''I think it would upset some parents in the town.''
Lorrie Thornton, a fifth-grade teacher, said, ''I'm not quite sure that was appropriate for this age level. I think the administration would have breathed a little easier if he hadn't brought it up.''
In response to a reporter's question about the appropriateness of his comments, Keyes was unapologetic.
''As a matter of fact, we should talk about abortion, because abortion happens to be an issue that is vitally important to our freedom,'' Keyes said. ''We should talk about it with them from the earliest possible age. ... The day when it's inappropriate to talk to our children about the fact that their rights come from God, and that therefore we do not have the right to take the life of children in the womb, I think that's absurd.
''You know what I think is inappropriate?'' Keyes continued. ''If Al Gore came in here and were talking to these children about Bill Clinton, nobody would suggest that was inappropriate. And yet if our children think too hard or look too much into Bill Clinton, they'll get into some real inappropriate areas.''
The fifth-graders in Bedford have been researching presidential politics, and this being New Hampshire, they have met most of the men who would be president. Gary Bauer, Texas Governor George W. Bush, and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch have all visited. The students also went on a field trip to meet Arizona Senator John McCain. Former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley offered to send a pro basketball player in his stead, but the school turned him down.
Keyes asked the assembled students where their rights come from.
''The Bill of Rights?'' one youngster asked. No, said Keyes.
''Us?'' No.
''The government?'' No.
''Martin Luther King?'' No, ''but he understood where our rights came from,'' Keyes said.
''The Constitution?'' No.
Finally, a girl raised her hand, sat up straight, and said, ''The rights come from God.'' Keyes had his answer.
In a speech earlier in the day to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Keyes said that some people might think his strong antiabortion stance is politically ineffective.
''If you feel that way,'' Keyes said, ''then you ought to be ashamed to be from New Hampshire.''
