It Takes A Village, by Hillary Clinton: on Families & Children
Children are not rugged individualists
Children are not rugged individualists. They depend on the adults they know and on thousands more who make decisions every day that affect their well-being. All of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, are responsible for deciding whether our children
are raised in a nation that doesn’t just espouse family values but values families & children.I have spent much of the past 25 years working to improve the lives of children.
My work has taught me that they need more of our time, energy, and resources. But no experience brought home the lesson as vividly as becoming a mother myself.
When Chelsea Victoria Clinton lay in my arms for the first time,
I was overwhelmed by the love and responsibility I felt for her. Despite all the books I had read, all the children I had studied and advocated for, nothing had prepared me for the sheer miracle of her being.
Source: It Takes A Village, by Hillary Clinton, p. 1
Sep 25, 1996
Teens not ready for sex; provide havens for alternatives
After many years of working with and listening to American adolescents, I don’t believe they are ready for sex or its potential consequences--parenthood, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases--and
I think we need to do everything in our power to discourage sexual activity and encourage abstinence. Young people can learn to value the intimacy of friendships with the opposite sex as well as their own, can enjoy being in groups as well as couples.
Those kinds of relationships need adult support, including the time it takes to organize gatherings for kids, instead of turning them loose in malls, video arcades, or the streets.
Homes, schools, churches, and communities should provide havens for kids who want an alternative. These same entities have to pitch in when it comes to educating kids about sex.
Source: It Takes A Village, by Hillary Clinton, p.149
Sep 25, 1996
Family Leave Act is a good start; paid leave better
When I became pregnant in 1979, my law firm did not have a maternity leave policy. I wound up with a four-month maternity leave that enabled me to spend much-needed time getting accustomed to my new role as a mother.
But most new parents don’t meet with anything like this kind of accommodation.The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees unpaid leave to employees in firms with more than 50 workers.
Many parents, however, cannot afford to forgo pay for even a few weeks, and very few employers in America offer paid maternity leave.
Only about half of all female workers of childbearing age are eligible for short-term disability benefits that would
cover pregnancy and childbirth, because the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, while it prohibits discrimination against these conditions, does not mandate coverage where none exists.
Source: It Takes A Village, by Hillary Clinton, p.198-199
Sep 25, 1996
Chelsea benefited from “village” & from two parents
When I wrote It Takes a Village ten years ago, our daughter Chelsea, a lively teen, was engaged with school, church, ballet, and friends. Now that Chelsea is grown up, I look back and see more clearly than ever how much we benefited from the village
every step of the way and how much better off she is for having not just two parents, but other caring adults in her corner. And I have yet to meet a parent who didn’t feel the same way.
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p. xi-xii
Dec 12, 2006
It takes a village to raise a child, in interdependent world
The African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” summed up for me the commonplace conclusion that, like it or not, we are living in an interdependent world where what our children hear, see, feel, and learn will affect how they grow up and
who they turn out to be. The five years since 9/11 have reinforced one of my main points: How children are raised anywhere can impact our lives and our children’s futures.
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p. xii
Dec 12, 2006
Mother’s difficult childhood sparked concern for kids
In this book and my autobiography, Living History, I wrote about my own mother’s difficult childhood. Abandoned by her teenage parents, mistreated by her grandparents, she was forced to go work as a mother’s helper when she was thirteen.
Caring for another family’s younger children while attending high school may sound harsh, but the experience of living in a strong, loving family gave my mother the tools she would need later when caring for her own home and children.
Learning about my mother’s childhood sparked my strong conviction that every child deserves a chance to live up to her God-given potential and that we should never quit on any child.
We all depend on adults whom we know and on those we may not to help
us inform, support, or protect our children. In the last ten years, science has proven how resilient children can be despite great obstacles. And that’s where other adults may step in, to help nurture children and to provide positive role models.
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p. xii-xiii
Dec 12, 2006
Supported foster care adoptions as First Lady & as Senator
Many of the ideas from the first edition of this book about how to refocus the foster care system on the best interests of the child were later included in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which I worked on with the late Republican
Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island and others. After the passage of that legislation, foster adoptions increased 64% nationwide from 31,030 the year the law passed to 51,000 last year. As First Lady,
I met many young people aging out of foster care who had little of the emotional, social, and financial support families provide. I worked on the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, which provides young people aging out of foster care with support
services, including access to health care, educational opportunities, job training, housing assistance, and counseling. In the Senate, we passed a law that provides financial incentives to people who adopt older children.
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p.299-300
Dec 12, 2006
Page last updated: Feb 24, 2019