Hillary's urgent message on children's issues

It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us By Hillary Rodham Clinton Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996 318 pages US$20

JAKARTA (JP): Hillary Clinton once displayed a stack of manuscripts in a television interview to counter those who had expressed doubts that she herself had actually written the book It Takes a Village.

In fact, she managed to write a very enjoyable book despite her busy schedule. The book has a witty style and is peppered with touching anecdotes, and delivers an urgent message on children's issues.

A long-time advocate of children's rights, Clinton strongly believes children would be much better off if all people and institutions pitch in, as conveyed by the African proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child."

The message, however, is a foreign concept for some Americans, including Bob Dole, the Republican presidential candidate.

"It takes a family to raise a child," Dole said in this year's Republican Convention. He also said that big government should not interfere in private matters.

Well, it seems that Dole had not read Clinton's book properly. The village here means everyone, from neighborhood, school, businesses to government. They need to pitch in to give the best for children as "no family is immune to the influences of the larger society."

An excerpt from the Catholic Conference explains perfectly the role of the government and families in this matter: "No government can love a child and no policy can be a substitute for a family's care, but clearly families can be helped or hurt in these irreplaceable roles. Government can either support or undermine families."

A family can raise and nurture children well, but how the rest of the society live will affect the family's wellbeing. And Clinton realizes this. "No matter what my husband and I do to protect and prepare Chelsea, her future will be affected by how other children are raised."

Her book is a cross between a proposal, a research paper and a memoir. Clinton quotes a number of scholars and researchers to support her arguments and her ideas. She also tells many stories from her childhood, her husband's, and raising their daughter, Chelsea.

Clinton is fair, and writes of both good things she did and mistakes she committed a parent. On one hand, she is a thoughtful, loving parent. She and her husband carefully explained to Chelsea what the media might say about her father when he ran for governor again.

On the other hand, well, people make mistakes, including Clinton. During a trip in San Diego, she told Chelsea and her friend that they did not need to wear helmets for their short bike trip. Chelsea's friend ran into a truck door suddenly opened in her path. Luckily, she was not hurt. But Clinton was shocked and embarrassed about her negligence.

Clinton mentions Indonesia, and praises clinics and family planning in the rural areas.

"This community clinic program, funded by the government and supported by the country's women's organizations and Moslem leaders, is a wonderful example of how the village -- both the immediate and larger society -- can use basic resources to help families."

Health care is one of her main interests. She criticizes the insurance companies for pursuing profits and rejecting insurance for sick children. Thus parents have to shoulder their children's medical costs.

It Takes a Village is about more than teaching and raising children. It also explains how adults can learn from children.

In the chapter about religion, Clinton argues that children are born believers. They ask so many questions about God because they are curious about Him, not because they doubt His existence.

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with mankind," said Rabindranath Tagore, as quoted in the beginning of the chapter.

Religion and health care are only some of the many issues addressed by Clinton. The book covers security, gender role issues, education, and health care for children.

Long before moving into the White House, Clinton was an advocate of children's issues. "It is a struggle that has captured my heart, my mind, my life."

She clearly has good intentions. However, as the book was published just at the right time, before the Presidential election, we cannot help wondering whether with this book, Clinton was also trying to fight the non-cookie-baking mother slur from the 1992 Presidential campaign.

She addresses the cookie-baking issue in a chapter on gender stereotypes: "Now, the fact is, I've made my share of cookies and served hundreds of cups of tea. But I never thought that my cookie-baking or tea-serving abilities made me a good, bad or indifferent mother, or a good or bad person."

Then, in the next paragraph, she writes that the incident made her realize how much energy is wasted sniping at people's choices and stereotyping their values, abilities and predilections.

No doubt Clinton has learned to steer clear of non-traditionalist statements, especially before or during her husband's presidential campaign.

"It takes a village to raise a child," was one of the most talked-about phrases at this year's Democratic Convention. Thus, her book is more than the First Lady's white paper, it is also a campaign tool for the Clinton camp.

Clinton mostly argues for traditional values. For example, she is against divorce and strongly believes in religious education for children.

On her stance on divorce, she says: "Children without fathers, or whose parents float in and out of their lives after divorce, are the most precarious little boats in the most turbulent seas."

There is really nothing wrong with attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Clinton uses the book to both present her ideas and to campaign for her husband.

However, it is also clear that she does have concern for the nation's wellbeing. Clinton sums this concept up very well: "Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes children to raise up a village to become all it should be."

-- Yenni Kwok