It takes a village...

"It takes a village to raise a child"

That may have been so and it is certainly a great notion. That the wisest of elders, the most experienced hunters, the best of the tribesmen can teach a child.

But sadly, we do not live in that culture any longer. It is more crucial today to be a vigilant and responsible parent than it has ever been in our culture. It is absolutely necessary to teach your children the dangers and even instill fear of the evil that lurks quite literally right outside our doors. With all the social networking sites of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Hi-5, Yearbook and God knows how many countless others; that predators can stake out our children, target them and invade them in their own rooms, right under your our roof. It is terrifying! People, wake up and please love your children enough to teach them.

I remember when I was a young kid watching my siblings home alone and getting a phone call asking if my parents were home. I knew immediately not to say my parents were gone. I remember well that I was taught never to say you were home alone. That was 2o years ago. Now you can't turn on the TV or computer without seeing a headline of a child abduction, murdered or other gruesome unimaginable thing. And yet modern children don't seem to understand the dangers of posting, blogging, or texting their every status or thought.

I am not saying parenting was a breeze before but with the boom of technology, it certainly gives parents more challenges.

I imagine when you live in a small community, everybody knows who everybody is. And just like in the movies, your kid would walk to the bus stop and wave hello to the baker, and greet the market vendor, and tip is cap to the milk man. He would be perfectly respectful to all his elders and polite to his teachers.

And they can still be respectful and polite but that too must be taught. Not by teachers, or the school nurse, or even the principal. Not by the Sunday school teacher or the choir director or even the Pastor. Not by your neighbor or the baby sitter or even the grandparents. No, it must be taught by YOU, the parent. Your are your child's guide to right and wrong, to patience and respect and unconditional love. Tough love at times. But they are worth it and if you do your job right, they will respect you for it. Probably not when they are young or even teenagers, but one day, you will be the topic if their school essay on their hero or maybe just a simple hug that says I love you and you are a good parent.

But please, for the love of God, be there for your kids. Teach them! Love them enough to be the best parent you can be, regardless of whatever upbringing you had, learn from it and take the best and learn from the worst. Learn from the mistakes of others and do the best for your kids.

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Side note: The village quote is said to have come from Africa. This is interesting because many villages are often raided by gorilla warriors, tribes or gangs. So perhaps the saying has more to do with watching out for each other and protecting each other than letting others raise your kids. Either way, you have to be involved otherwise, the dangers that lurk will take them from you, one way or another.