Community

I loved it but was finding it really hard to believe what I was hearing.  A guy was being interviewed on the importance of community.  He obviously had a good reputation around the world.  He ran a number of schools in third world countries.
He said that to encourage his kids to be outward looking, they wrote 200 letters to world leaders inviting them for a sleep over at their place, and if they could not then perhaps they could go there for one.
Out of 200 letters there were 25 invitations to come to others place.  So the guy seeing it all as a big adventure, took his kids out of school, and they went visiting the world leaders that had invited them to their place.
I love that.  Merril and I recently attended a one-day workshop run by the local council highlighting the importance of community.
I learned something really important to me there.  I had seen it happening but did not know there was a word for it.  Service model.  Apparently, this model sees the government as the answer to everything.
An example of Service model and community model was given.  A school had an horrific crime rate.  The governments answer was to put more police into the school.  The parents saw that the crime rate did not diminish as a result.  So they saw the school and got rid of all the police and took on looking after the school.  The crime rate dropped markedly when the parents were involved in their kids’ activities.
I know I was being sold something and evidence highlighting the case in the affirmative was presented.  Yet I see the failure of the Service model.  Money is being thrown at so much as if it is the answer, yet I am having trouble seeing any evidence that things improve as a result.  I also know even governments have limited resources, and they will run out of money.
I love the thought of parents being involved where they can.  I know it is not the most popular outlook, but it looks to me like parents (often through no fault of their own) are abdicating responsibility and letting others raise their children.
Often when kids see their parents involved in their lives and that they care and have time for them, their behaviour improves.  Not always, but sometimes.  Enough for me to think maybe they are on to something.