The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 4 of 12)

can tell the relatives not to buy toys and you'd be surprised how much they seem to appreciate it, but if you're too chicken, try this: "Bring books instead of toys." br> -- Robin Boult br> Murfreesboro, Tennessee /p> p> HILLARY DEAREST br> Re: George Neumayr's It Takes a Snow Job : /p>

An African immigrant I once met, an older man, told me of the true meaning of the old African saying "It takes a village to raise a child," a saying which was hijacked by Hillary Clinton for her book.

The saying, he explained, is an admonition to individuals to conduct themselves in a manner that sets a good example for children, whether you have any or not. Implicit is the recognition that it isn't only parents who raise children -- it's the whole society, i.e., "the village." Children as a matter of course watch adults closely and tend to emulate not just the example set by their parents but also the example set by other adults and authority figures they see and hear. And this being the case, it means that we all have a collective responsibility to help "raise" children by setting good examples for them to follow.

The saying, in other words, is a call for individual moral conduct and personal restraint on the grounds that our actions affect others, and particularly children, whether we mean them to or not.

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