the village

The Alberton Papers, Vol. IV, # III
By Dick Darne 4-3-07
"So, does it take a village to raise a child?" asked Johhny. "Some will say it’s strictly the job of the parents, and the State should stay out of it."
"There’s a big difference between ‘The State’, which could mean anything from the whole country , individual states, or even counties, as opposed to ‘a village’, which could mean from the neighborhood on up through a town or a small county." Answered Gno. "the State has taxing power and can supply funding, but probably will be short on actually caring at the individual level, whereas the village may not have much money, but can know each child individually from birth until he or she leaves the nest."
"Yeah, when I was a lad, you couldn’t get away with anything in the little town I grew up in." said Bill. "The news of your mischief usually beat you home."
"Don’t seem to work anymore, a lot of parents wont believe their ‘little darlings’ could do any wrong and you may be told to mind your own business." added Todd.
"Or even told that by the ‘little darlings’ themselves." said Bill.
"I don’t know about you younger guys, but us older boys like, Bill, Dick and myself remember the golden years of child rearing, first hand." said Gno.
"I do." I said. "You didn’t dare sass any elder, you addressed non- relatives as mister, miss or missus. Ms. hadn’t been invented yet, but ‘miz’ usually sufficed for any lady. Please and thank you were not optional and you were subject to correction by any adult and it would be reaffirmed by your own parents. If you got in trouble at school, the ‘village’ considered you guilty until proven innocent. A licking at school earned you another at home if you complained"
"It some of us a while to figure the power of the telephone, when we would play hooky from school, we spent the day in blissful ignorance, not realizing we were already caught because the school called home to check on us. I have to admit it was fun until time to face the music." Said Bill.
"just think of all the goody two shoes who missed out on all the fun and punishment" mused Gno.
"I remember talking a goody two shoes into playing hooky, his first and only time. Fifty some years ago."I reminisced. "Poor guy’s probably still agonizing over it. He could be somebody important . I’ll have to change names to protect the guilty." stay tuned for the next breathtaking episode. dd