What happened to the mentality that "It takes a village to raise a child"? Indeed, the entire community needs to play an active role in creating a conducive environment for its children to grow in.

We need each other as a community to safeguard the safety of children and their health – both mentally and physically. The individualistic path we have taken is the reason why our communities are no longer safe, especially for vulnerable children.

By no longer sticking together as a people, we have opened the gate for criminals to do as they please in our communities. Communal unity is the first line of defence against crime. But we have now grown to  hate each other, much to the benefit of the criminals.

We have replaced the sense of oneness with isolation in the name of privacy. It is even scary these days to help neighbours’ kids because they grow up suspecting harm might come their way from other community members. Today when a neighbour screams for help, going there to help might be seen as invasion of privacy. 

Gone are those days when your friend’s mother was your mother too. A mother knew that she had other parents to call on when she was in need and vice versa.

If a neighbour's child misbehaves, an elderly person would pull the child to the side and reprimand that child. Nowadays an elderly person won’t do anything but question the parenting of the child’s parents. There's also fear of being accused of interference or even worse, child abuse.

We have become so disconnected that we even forget where we come from. What happened to the spirit of ubuntu – I am because we are?

We have deteriorated into a society which celebrates each other's downfall rather than helping one another.

Consolation Mathebula, Rolle, Bushbuckridge