It takes a village to raise a child | Connected Principals

It takes a village to raise a child | Connected Principals:

It takes a village to raise a child

by John Marschhausen • June 2, 2014 • 0 Comments

The traditional African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” has been widely quoted when examining the partnerships required during the maturation of our youth. Our “village” has never been more necessary than it is today. We live in a face-paced, instant information, and pressure-packed world. Today’s children are faced with a myriad of both challenges and opportunities. Navigating parenthood can be a daunting undertaking – partnerships and supports are welcome and necessary to prepare our students for tomorrow.

We are blessed in Hilliard to have wonderful support, strong community partners, and a true village approach. It would be easy to spend time reflecting on all of the dangers that face our children today. It would be easy to want to build walls to keep our children protected from the world around us, but isolation won’t provide the tools to make future choice. We must work together, look out for each other’s children, and have the difficult conversations.

It takes a village to share Maria’s Message – to educate young people about the dangers of distracted driving. Dom Tiberi’s powerful message is a reminder to everyone – http://www.10tv.com/content/embeds/2014/02/marias-message.html. It is easy to feel invincible – it takes a village to continually remind each other to give the road our full attention while behind the wheel.

It takes a village to keep our children safe when they are playing in our neighborhoods, parks, and playgrounds. As neighbors we keep an eye out for the children playing outside, we build friendships and relationships with our neighbors, and we work with the local police to keep our community safe. We are proud to have great partners in our Hilliard Police Department and we work together to keep our young people safe. http://www.hilliardschools.org/get-outside-to-play/

It takes a village to have tough conversations about drug abuse and addictions with our teenagers. No one is immune from bad, life-altering choices. We must all look for potential dangers to our children. This means active listening to our children and always being aware of potential changes in behaviors, friends, and social activities. The recent Heroin It takes a village to raise a child | Connected Principals: