There’s a saying that most of us have heard during the past several years, and it goes: "It takes a village to raise a child." We’ve heard it, many of us have lived it. But, is it true? Does it take a village, and what does that mean?
To many, it simply means that society as a whole needs to look out for each other. We need to care enough about and value human life enough to help direct the youth on the path toward adulthood - the youth who will one day run this country. It means that when we are down, someone else can pick us up. It means that alone, it is more difficult to raise a child. It means that it’s o.k. to reach out and ask for a helping hand when we need it. We don’t have to go it alone as one man on an island.
Is this true? Does it really take a village to raise a child?
While, it’s true that we all need a support system - that is, surrounding ourselves with loving, caring adults who will help us when we need them, and we, in turn, help them - does this mean a village is necessary to raise our children?
Perhaps the parent, especially the single parent, feels as though they need a village of people and values to surround them to help them raise this child. That’s understandable since it’s exhausting raising a child. It makes it more difficult when you’re attempting to raise a bright, caring adult whose values may seem to go completely against the stream of the common discourtesies and lack of concern for others we see often in today’s society. Perhaps the parent needs a village of support. But, does the child?
A child does need a support system as well. If he or she is fortunate enough to be a part of a solid, intact family unit where his mother and father love each other and are committed to making a marriage and a family work, and all others in the extended family honor that marriage as it was intended - holy before God. If this is the case, the child has a good shot at succeeding in life. If, however, the family is broken for any number of reasons; then, the child probably does need a village of supporters to surround them and take the place of what the family was originally intended to do.
There is another theory out there that is taught in child psychology classes. I first heard it mentioned when I was a junior in high school taking a child development class, and I don’t recall who said it. Though, I may have Piaget confused with another well-known psychologist - I believe it was Jean Piaget, child psychologist whose well-known theory has four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. But, the saying goes like this: "All a child really needs is someone who’s crazy about the kid." This would imply that for a child to grow up as a healthy, well-rounded adult, all they really need is for one person - anyone - to show so much interest in that child that they are just crazy in love with that child. When this happens, the child feels a sense of self-worth, the child knows that they are loved, the child wants to strive to make this person who thinks so highly of them, proud. And, in return, this person will look out for the child’s best interests.
So, does it take a village, a family or does a child really only need "someone whose crazy about the kid?"
