The Village and the Child:
The Child and the Village
Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash
Winter - Spring 2023
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Some expressions are worth exploring
It takes a village to raise a child. Our ideas/conceptions of children may have changed over time and throughout different periods of history, but we are all united by being children. What does it mean to be a child? In definition 1 from Dictionary.com (see image), “child” is an age label/designation, often used alongside other age labels (youth/adolescent/teenager, adult, and senior). In definition 2, “child” refers to the offspring of people who are called our parents. Furthermore, as in definition 6, “child” is used to refer to descendants, which are people who can trace their genetic or familial heritage to particular ancestors (people who came before us). Meanwhile, there are negative derivations from “child” like “childish”, as in definition 5, to signal immaturity or immature/undeveloped behavior, using (or drawing on) the metaphor of children being in a state of maturing/developing/growing through what can be divided into various stages of childhood. |
There are also positive derivations from “child” like “childlike”, meaning “(of an adult) having good qualities associated with a child”, with synonyms including "innocent", "guileless", "trusting", and "natural" (Oxford). 
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For our purposes, we can start with definition 1 since it matches today's common usages of "child": “a person between birth and puberty or full growth”.
This is one of the ways in which we think about children (through age classification), but how else do we conceive of children? In the media of the last few decades, thinking of children as being the future is a fairly common trope (that is, a figurative use of language). So is the idea that today’s future belongs to children today. In these senses, children and the future are spoken of as being valuable. However, in our world, children are not always treated as though they are the future, but, instead, are often treated as if they are possessions, tools, or weapons. Meanwhile, the way a major part of our world is currently operating/functioning/behaving is as if the future belongs to no one and has no value. The Learning Word embraces the reality that (the) children are, in fact, our future, and they are participants in our shared/collective present. They are part of the village as much as anyone else—the arms and lengths that embrace the village and carry the village—and they deserve a seat at the table as much as anyone else. They deserve to be treated as though they are the future (or are part of the future), and indeed as though they are as much a part of the present as anyone else. They deserve to be treated with respect, love, and care. They deserve to live in a world that operates/functions/behaves as if the future belongs to all beings—to all of us—and as if the present does, too. 
Image by Shameer Pk from Pixabay
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The Learning Word also embraces a world in which children are recognized for participating in taking care of other people and other beings, a world in which we understand that if we responsibly make more space in society for children to have responsibility, they will rise to the challenge.
rise to (from Collins Dictionary) On the Horizon
responsibly What does "responsibly" mean to you? Exploration of this word coming soon . . . responsibility
Dictionary: Definitions from Oxford Languages re·spon·si·bil·i·ty · the opportunity or ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization. The Learning Word proposes that we, the world, collectively need to better support children in participating in community-building and world-building. So far in human history, children have not yet been given much chance to participate. Meanwhile, some people of all ages have been working tirelessly to build a better world, and while many have fought for basic human rights and freedom from oppression from immature adults who are dictators, tyrants, and autocrats (adult bullies to the extreme), other adults including those bullies have been making a mess of the world through atrocities of oppression and war. Children—and people generally—deserve much more.
Why aren’t children given a seat at the table? How can children be given a seat at the table, always? The Learning Word sets out to explore these questions and answers to them. |
To begin, we turn to a song that had
a profound impact on many a children who listened to it:
a profound impact on many a children who listened to it:
