Community involvement: getting the balance right

Has family life changed for the better or is it at the detriment of our children’s upbringings? Are we getting the balance between home life and community involvement just right or is the increasing pace of life reducing the amount of time available to participate in the wider community?

 

In years gone by, the extended family – and indeed the local community – all played a much larger role in the lives of children. In times when telephones were not in every home, and social media did not exist, I remember the neighbours would come a ‘ceilí,’ there would be no forewarning, no polishing and dusting for a week beforehand; just a simple knock at the door and a welcome in.

 

Further back than even my childhood, my grandmother told me of ‘ceilís’ to houses where there would be music, dancing, chats and games. Everyone was welcome, everyone knew everybody; they were a community. They laughed together, cried together and shared with each other. From the rations of food to watching out for one another and each other’s children.

 

Today's world is very different, and although child safety and child protection are now so well provided for – and rightly so – I still wonder are we getting the balance right? We live in busy times, and it is very easy to get caught up in our busy lifestyles where we have no time left over to connect with our neighbours and outside community - and no a ‘poke’ on Facebook does not count!

 

The old ‘ceilí’ days are long gone, but how would most of us feel if someone arrived unannounced at the door for a catch up? How many times have you had a text conversation with a friend saying, “We must meet up soon,” yet not set a date? And when that date is set, we polish, clean and tidy for days before the visit, trying to create a house that is practically spotless already, but has the ‘lived in’ look due to our playful children.

 

So I ask you all to join with me in setting those playdates with your friends, thinking of ways to bring the ‘real’ world to life for your children. Although I personally enjoy the cyber world and social media, it is a place that my children will be in for long enough when they are older. So for now, I want them to enjoy their community, extended family and friends, for it is these interactions that will help mould them into the people they will become.