Hillary Clinton once said that it takes a village to raise a child. I understand what she was saying but my thought on the matter is that a village will influence a child (both good and bad) but it takes parents to actually raise their child.
When you drill down on the meaning of raise it’s associated with the word upright. This makes sense because when you think of raising something up you can also term the word upright when you lift something up. If you drill down a little further on the term upright you’ll see that one of the definitions is someone who has good character (i.e. honest, kind, etc.). It also list that an upright person is in tune with what is right.
What this boils down to is that a child’s parents can and should be the ones instilling the above values. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the world isn’t demonstrating a lot of good characteristics these days especially in the entertainment world. Twenty-four hours a day a young person can watch shows that are so bad they would’ve been considered pornography when I was growing up. Just watch the dance moves from various artists and it looks like they are having sex. I know they said the same thing about Elvis but there’s a world of difference now. And unfortunately even cheerleaders and dance teams are doing the same things including grabbing their crotch (I hate this word so sorry).
A child’s world/village has some pretty scary stuff in it that can negatively affect his or her character for life. There’s a lack of honesty, unselfishness, work ethic, etc., so someone’s child isn’t going to get a lot of exposure to people with these values. This is why I think it’s the parent’s job to raise their child because they need to be the gate keeper. These are some things I think a parent should do to positively
influence who their child becomes:
1) Set a bedtime and don’t deviate. When you start negotiating with your child each night you’ll lose credibility and not just on time for bed.
2) Set a time each morning that your child has to get up and make sure it’s enough time to where everyone isn’t rushing to get out the door.
3) Do everything you can to share dinner as a family at a specified time. If your child is taking part in programs (i.e. dance, music, sports, etc.) that go into the early evening, I’d recommend taking your child out of the program he or she is involved in. Any expert will tell you that eating together as a family will do more for your child’s character than participating in programs. Plus these activities usually stress everyone out (i.e. when is practice, when is the game, which field is the child playing on, limited time
for homework, etc.).
4) Know their friends and their friends’ parents. Not everyone’s parents have good morals so there’s a possibility they could allow your son or daughter to do things at their home that you’d never let take place at yours.
5) Teach them a good work ethic and responsibility by coming up with weekly chores. Even a four-year old can clean their room at least once a week. I know of families who have a maid and they have teens. I say let the maid go and put your teenager(s) to work. They need it even more than you need it even though they won’t think so.
I could have listed more but you get the point. You have greater influence and more tools at your disposal to teach your children the characteristics they need to be successfully personally, professionally, and spiritually. So I disagree with Hillary Clinton because if you allow your village to raise your child, your child will end up with a miserable life.
When you drill down on the meaning of raise it’s associated with the word upright. This makes sense because when you think of raising something up you can also term the word upright when you lift something up. If you drill down a little further on the term upright you’ll see that one of the definitions is someone who has good character (i.e. honest, kind, etc.). It also list that an upright person is in tune with what is right.
What this boils down to is that a child’s parents can and should be the ones instilling the above values. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the world isn’t demonstrating a lot of good characteristics these days especially in the entertainment world. Twenty-four hours a day a young person can watch shows that are so bad they would’ve been considered pornography when I was growing up. Just watch the dance moves from various artists and it looks like they are having sex. I know they said the same thing about Elvis but there’s a world of difference now. And unfortunately even cheerleaders and dance teams are doing the same things including grabbing their crotch (I hate this word so sorry).
A child’s world/village has some pretty scary stuff in it that can negatively affect his or her character for life. There’s a lack of honesty, unselfishness, work ethic, etc., so someone’s child isn’t going to get a lot of exposure to people with these values. This is why I think it’s the parent’s job to raise their child because they need to be the gate keeper. These are some things I think a parent should do to positively
influence who their child becomes:
1) Set a bedtime and don’t deviate. When you start negotiating with your child each night you’ll lose credibility and not just on time for bed.
2) Set a time each morning that your child has to get up and make sure it’s enough time to where everyone isn’t rushing to get out the door.
3) Do everything you can to share dinner as a family at a specified time. If your child is taking part in programs (i.e. dance, music, sports, etc.) that go into the early evening, I’d recommend taking your child out of the program he or she is involved in. Any expert will tell you that eating together as a family will do more for your child’s character than participating in programs. Plus these activities usually stress everyone out (i.e. when is practice, when is the game, which field is the child playing on, limited time
for homework, etc.).
4) Know their friends and their friends’ parents. Not everyone’s parents have good morals so there’s a possibility they could allow your son or daughter to do things at their home that you’d never let take place at yours.
5) Teach them a good work ethic and responsibility by coming up with weekly chores. Even a four-year old can clean their room at least once a week. I know of families who have a maid and they have teens. I say let the maid go and put your teenager(s) to work. They need it even more than you need it even though they won’t think so.
I could have listed more but you get the point. You have greater influence and more tools at your disposal to teach your children the characteristics they need to be successfully personally, professionally, and spiritually. So I disagree with Hillary Clinton because if you allow your village to raise your child, your child will end up with a miserable life.
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