It Still Takes A Village To Raise A Child

Depending on your age, you have heard the following, “It takes a village to raise a child.” 

During my childhood this statement was not just heard but it was carried out.  This was a time when all the parents in the neighborhood took the responsibility for helping each other in the raising and rearing of the children.

This includes having the permission to chastise, correct and even discipline us.

If the other parents in the neighborhood caught us doing something we had no business doing they could scold us, reprimand or lecture us.

The correction could have been calling us out in front of everybody or ‘our li friends’ and openly telling us what we were doing wrong.  And if by chance one of our ‘lil friends’ tried to defend us, (which if it did happen, only happened that one time-because the repercussions of it would have resulted in a whipping.  And it would have been openly in front of our ‘lil friends.”

Yeah, parents (even if not blood related) had unspoken permission to do all the above.

The reverence and respect us children had for adults is almost unheard of in these present times.

Village Mentality

Mrs. Lartheria Roberson, a mother of one of my classmates in the neighborhood (also the lunch lady at our school) would watch stand in her doorway and watch us as we walked home from school.

I remember a time when I was trying to act like some of my ‘lil friends’ and cussed on the way home.

Mrs. Roberson heard me and the look of disappointment on her face is still vivid in my mind. She called me over and chastised me.  She said, “You are too pretty of a girl to be talking like that.  Don’t you ever let me hear you talk like that again.” 

And let me add that while her son and I were classmates, and her other children along with my siblings were classmates, I don’t think her and my parents ever personally met each other. (Other than us children talking about our friendships.)

But there was yet this ‘village mentality'.

When I tell you that till this day, her correction that day made such an imprint on my life!  I can still feel the disappointment in her.  And I can still feel the shame I experienced. I wasn’t a person who cussed.

The impression Mrs. Roberson made on me that day lives within me today.  When I am in my own neighborhood and hear young girls walking down the street using profanity, I operate like Mrs. Roberson.  I use her very words and say, “Hey can I talk to you for a minute?  You are too pretty of a girl to be using that type of language”.  I then engage them in a conversation about themselves, what kind of grades they are getting, dreams and goals.

I see that same embarrassment and shame I had in their faces.

Somewhere the ‘village mentality’ has disappeared.

We at Girls and Boys of Character are bringing back the village mentality.

We are actively taking the “It takes a village to raise a child”.  Our village mentality approach will be focused on our six pillars:

Trustworthiness

Respect

Responsibility

Fairness

Caring

Citizenship

The six pillars will serve as a foundation for this approach.

It is our belief that the six pillars will serve to help strengthen each child.  Our village approach will be new to them but with time they will adapt, and it will benefit their home environment, school environment as well as build character and integrity.

Girls and Boys of Character would love to hear your comments. 

Pic #1: Shannon Palomino Salinas @unsplash.com

Pic #2: Erik Mclean @Unsplash.com

Pic#3: CDC @Unsplash.com