It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.

A colleague once narrated an incident that took place in her Wilmington, DE neighborhood. After getting off work in the middle of the night one fateful day, she saw a group of people loitering around her home. Seeing the fully-armed officer approach, the group dispersed. Then she realized that among the group were teenage girls and kids ranging from seven to twelve. Angrily, the officer scolded the girls and the kids for staying up so late in the company of grown men.

The following morning, her porch played host to some furious women who wanted to know why she scolded their kids. In spite of her explanation about feeling concerned for the kids’ safety, she was warned to mind her business next time. A few days later, the same officer arrived at her neighborhood to see the teenage girls “making out” with some of the men at various corners of the street. Shaking her head sadly, she ignored them. A few months afterwards, a couple of the girls were pregnant, victims of “babies having babies”.



All over the United States, too many people are shirking in their primary responsibilities as parents. And they would not tolerate anyone getting involved in their kid’s discipline. It’s no wonder therefore that the country is replete with too many rude, lazy and ignorant young people. Unfortunately, there is a staggering manifestation of this sad consequences in schools, work places and neighborhoods across the nation.

In many middle schools and high schools across the nation, it takes individuals with lion hearts to work as teachers. With metal detectors installed at several schools to prevent lethal weapons, the job of a teacher is filled with as much hazards as those of soldiers deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

When a typical high school churns out some irate, undisciplined kids either as drop-outs or as half-baked graduates, they usually end up at the hands of unlucky employers of labor. Yet, with a sordid foundation laden with laziness and indiscipline in formative years, these individuals who are now “grown” adults will sooner or later begin to exhibit their negative attributes.

Some of the kids who are unable to fit into a regular work orientation or too desperate to get rich quick, will end up as a menace to their neighborhoods. If they are not selling drugs at street corners, they get into street gangs to unleash terror on hapless people. Before long, these characters will get busted, tried in courts and jailed. And that is if the guys don’t first get killed by fellow drug dealers, opposing gangs or a frustrated police officer who is also a victim of some very poor parenting.

There is still hope in the horizon. But that is only if we all can return to the “old school” tradition where "it takes a village to raise a child".