Isn’t early childhood nurturing second nature to us all? Why do we need to worry about the children? Surely their parents or grandparents make sure that they get what they need? Well, the answers are that a significant percentage of children aren’t getting what they need. Early childhood development issues are public health issues because poor early childhood development leads to poor public health. Poor development doesn’t guarantee problems, but it certainly increases the risk. Good early childhood development decreases the risk and enhances self-esteem.
There is an African proverb stating that “it takes a village to raise a child” implying that a local (or even broader) community of people need to work together along with a child’s parents to raise a child to their maximum potential. When Hillary Clinton used this proverb for the title for her book about her vision for America’s children, it was dismissed in some quarters as socialist poppycock or nonsense or, in current parlance, “woke.”1 One retort noted that it doesn’t take a village to raise a child but that it just takes a family to raise a child. I feel quite strongly that it indeed does take a village (along with the family) to raise a child and to deny that reality only prevents us even more from working together to improve our lives and the life of our communities.
A word of background—Everything that we do or hope to do is interconnected with our fellow citizens. Systems theory reminds us that we all rely on each other and depend on seemingly independent systems to function together. A quick health care example would be that successful knee replacement surgery relies on multiple systems (surgeon, scientific research, medical education, OR staff, anesthesia, nursing, pharmacy, housekeeping, hospital engineering, physical therapy, etc.) that have to be functioning together to optimize the result. Just as a surgeon alone cannot fix a knee, a family alone cannot optimally raise a child.
Let me explain the components of what I mean by a “village”—
- Family—it goes without saying that families are the primary nurturers of children. Yet many families need assistance in so many ways that we need to able to provide that assistance. Well-nurtured children make good citizens.
- Medical care—families are not capable of independently providing medical care in today’s society. They rely on physicians, clinics and healthcare systems to lead the way. Many children and their families have adequate health insurance but far too many do not. Adequate health care for our children should not be an issue in our society, and I am embarrassed as a health care provider that so many children and families cannot access proper care. To be raised properly, children need optimal health care. The “return on investment” for providing this care is far greater than allowing health care costs to escalate and the health of all children overall to decline. And we need to do a better job promoting breastfeeding as the best way to provide primary nutrition for all children. Healthy children make good citizens.
- Education—children absolutely require the best education possible. For the less fortunate in our society, the only true way out of poverty is through education. Education can open new avenues for advancement for all of our children, whether they are heading to the military, to the job market, or to an advanced degree. Education is also an obligatory tool to enhance parenting. Education should teach us tolerance for our fellow citizens and acceptance of the many ways that we are different yet really alike. Educated children make good citizens.
- Recreation—children need more exercise, and our community needs to ensure that we have the proper vehicles for that—community centers, school programs, after-school programs, sport and non-sport recreational programs. Active children make good citizens.
- Law enforcement—our law enforcement system (properly trained and monitored) needs our full support. They need to able to adapt in a proactive (rather than a retroactive) manner to seek ways to improve our community. At the same time, we need to recognize that all the opportunities for improvement in our community are not somebody else’s responsibility. We have to take responsibility to tangibly improve our community. Law-abiding children make good citizens.
- Faith support—folks that are active in their religious organizations know that they have a responsibility to nurture all of the children of the church. In the families of various faiths, we should all work together. Even those of no specific faith should recognize a higher calling to support others. Spiritually led children make good citizens.
The list above emphasizes ways that we are all inter-connected and need each other. This inter-connectedness is what makes us so successful at times when everything works together. This inter-connectedness also has the capability to tear us apart as a community, for when one system fails, the whole system is likely to fail.2
Note the common thread above—children that are helped by different segments (or systems) of our community can grow up to be good citizens. Without these inter-connected systems working together, we cannot make the progress that we need to improve the lives of our children, our lives and the life of our community.3
I have to admit that I am scared of how the current political climate is affecting our children. Programs that affect the well-being of children and their families (health services, mental health services, and education are at the top of this list) are being altered or cut back at a time when families with few means are struggling. The cutbacks will have the unwanted effect of making things worse. I quite frankly see a two-tiered system becoming more prominent than ever before. The folks with less means will become the folks with lesser means and poorer health going forward. To deny the fact that the most vulnerable in our society continue to suffer the most is to deny the plight of poverty for so many people.
When we fail our children, we fail our communities and ourselves. We have a communal responsibility to all of the children in our communities. Stated another way, we are communal parents for all the children. Without that, we cannot improve as a community. And as a life-long pediatric advocate, I would argue that we should eagerly bear such a burden for our children, since they represent the next generation.
When times get tough, our responsibilities to our children are even greater.4 Cutting back on services and resources and just hoping that children can pull themselves up “by their bootstraps” is just wrong and denies our role as a communal parent for all of our children. We cannot improve our lives and the life of our community if we don’t take personal responsibility for everything that happens in our community related to our children.
It really does “take a village to raise a child” that can contribute to the overall well-being of our community now and in the years ahead. We need to make that village as strong and vibrant as possible.
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/woke-count-me-in/
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/civility-matters-2/
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/trust-is-the-currency-of-social-interaction-2/
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/my-childrens-children-name/