"It Takes A Village To Raise A Child"

The Editor
The Anguillian

Dear Editor,

“It takes a Village
to Raise a Child”

The Royal Anguilla Police Force has just completed a week of activities where the participation of the community was highlighted in the reduction and solving of crimes. We think this should be taken a step further. The older generation will recall that in their youth, adults of the community would, if necessary correct young persons for bad behaviour.

Nowadays no one dares to parent another person’s child for fear of incurring wrath from the parents. Many of our youth are well behaved responsible persons but there are many also who feel no social responsibility to think about how their behaviour affects others. When a society stops setting standards, trouble follows.

We are all for returning to the old days, when, if you saw a child misbehaving, using bad language, cheating, bullying another child or going around with weapons, you would either tell the parents, reprimand the child or both. It is good for children to know that others are taking note of their behaviour and that their neighbours also have expectations for them to grow up into good citizens.

We live in a small community and many children are known to the adults around. It is just that most people do not want to get involved. We think it is time that all adults are involved. If we all commit to holding children accountable for their actions, maybe we could turn this tide of disrespect back into a more civilized society. Maybe, this is one time when a step backward will actually move us forward.

From the Soroptimist Club of Anguilla members.