google.com, pub-0418880821635173, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 World of Proverbs: It takes a whole village to raise a child. ~ African Proverb [17378]


It takes a whole village to raise a child.
~ African Proverb [17378]

Photo by Borg Gastein (Own work)
[GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0],
via Wikimedia Commons
Hillary Rodham Clinton's book, 'It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us', 1996,  is based on this well-known African proverb.  The essential premise is that teachers, police, church leaders, babysitters, day care workers, and a host of community members have an influence, both good and bad, on the parenting of a child.

The proverb is believed to have originated from the Nigerian Igbo culture, but has been found in common usage throughout most of Africa.

Notable Use:
A variation was said in the 2013 Golden Globe Awards (1/13/2013):

"It take a village to raise this very demented child."
~ Lena Dunham during her acceptance speech for "Girls"

More African Proverbs

To see more Illustrated Proverbs click here.