“We want our people to stay white – we don’t want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race.”

This statement is so shocking that some might have trouble accepting the fact that someone actually made this statement only a few weeks ago.

Even more disheartening: these words were uttered by 13-year old girls.

Lamb and Lynx Gaede might look like any other teenage pop stars. Their music might sound like every other CD in a middle schooler’s collection. But their words and lyrics preach a much different message: white nationalism and racism.

Under the group name Prussian Blue -for their bright blue eyes and German heritage-the Gaede twins sing songs and make CDs targeted to attract younger audiences to the white nationalist movement.

Two questions stand out: How do 13-year-old girls become ensnared in such thinking, and do they really understand the full ramifications of the message they convey?

Some might assume that, at such a young age, Lamb and Lynx must have been raised with these beliefs, maybe even repeating what they hear from their parents.

And to that point, the girls’ mother, April Gaede, seems to agree in a recent interview.

“Well, all children pretty much espouse their parents’ attitude,” she said. “We’re white nationalists, and of course that’s a part of our life, and I’m going to share that part of my life with my children.”

Some attitudes are better left for children to accept or reject at an age when they can fully understand the issues.

The temptation for some is to begin grooming even the youngest generation to carry on our beliefs when we’re gone. Those beliefs can include white nationalism, political ideology and even religion.

Even if people want to instill their beliefs on the young with the very best intentions, we need to realize how impressionable children are. They will take what they are told and accept it as truth without question.

But that doesn’t last forever. At least, it shouldn’t.

As college students, we should examine our instilled beliefs-political ideologies, religious beliefs-to develop our own opinions. Some still have not.

Be careful about promoting your own beliefs if you have not thought through all the issues fully.

And if you are still regurgitating what you were told to believe as a child, now is the time to educate yourself and develop your own opinions.

The Gaede twins are approaching that age when some of that questioning begins to take place. We hope they examine their beliefs instead of simply accepting their upbrining.

But the need to examine one’s convictions does not come and go at age 13.