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Does It Take A Community To Raise A Child?
An African saying states that it takes a whole community to raise a child (Block 181). The note behind this saying is that the community as a whole, not just parents and caretakers of children, holds a responsibility to their physical, mental, emotional, and even moral development. Some people claim that it is the parent’s responsibility to raise a child while others claim the same as the community.
However, it is considerably agreeable to support the claim that it takes a community to raise a child. The children’s perception of blessing makes the whole community happy when a newborn is announced into society (Miller-McLemore 69). As a result, every person assumes the responsibility of raising the child. The principle that the whole community is responsible for the upbringing of a child is proven beyond doubt as the children benefit from varying role models. Further, when a child is raised amidst family members and neighbors, they are likely to develop a sense of having both a loving and secure environment. The safe setting offered by the community motivates children to learn without their exposure to threats.
But none can parent alone. Not at any age. Child-rearing requires a community. It is not just one’s family, friends, but an individual who needs a community for the children to learn and grow inside and experience the extremely diverse spectrum of human life. One cannot show them one face of the diamond and expect them to understand its shape. They have to see life through different perspectives and styles to find their purpose and place for themselves.
Parents, siblings, and family members have critical roles in educating and socializing children. They believe that anything that extended relatives and friends contribute to the welfare of the child is done simply out of the kindness of their hearts and not out of obligation to the child. However, what distinguishes Homo sapiens from other animals is not merely our “superior” intelligence; Human Beings are also a neotenic and intensely social species. By “neotenic” means staying “baby-like” for much longer than other animals. Children’s brains keep developing well into and probably after adolescence. People need to do that because they are intensely social animals. A Human, to survive, thrive and prosper, needs to develop an astounding array of skill sets and sensibilities, because all Humans will end up living in a Human Culture.
In conclusion, we start with our parents and our families, but then end up living in a much broader and deeper world composed of people who are not close family members and cultures, not descended from one’s family culture. The topic of how to “get along” in human society is vast. Think of all the skills and sensibilities that people use to survive and get along in this world. Probably parents did not teach them all (Gestwicki, 426). Ones’ parents can only teach them so much. And then there is the tribal level and then the community level of schooling. Socially, it is not a “simple thing” to be a “happy, successful person.” With all this illustration in mind, it must take several communities to “raise a child.
Works cited
Block, Peter. Community: The structure of belonging. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018.
Gestwicki, Carol. Home, school, and community relations. Cengage Learning, 2015.
Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J. Let the children come: Reimagining Childhood from a Christian perspective. Fortress Press, 2019.