Once upon a time, good parenting and its requirements were culturally shared and institutionally supported. Parents had the backing of every major institution of society. The American “Village” backed them up and did its part in helping them raise tomorrow’s men and women.
That web of civic institutions, along with its wisdom and habits of mind, heart, and body, is dead or dying. Many of these institutions still exist. Some continue to do good. But their numbers and sense of purpose and scale of public engagement are on the wane.
Robert Putnam’s aptly titled 2000 book, “Bowling Alone,” captured the death march of this once-vibrant web of association and its humanizing benefits. Today, nearly a quarter-century later, we are not only bowling alone but also parenting alone.
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