Part of the village

Someone I know recently got herself in a lot of legal trouble and most of the comments I've heard people say is that it was expected. "She's a sociopath just like her mother." "She was a bad seed from the beginning."

While I don't condone what she did and completely agree that she needs to be accountable for her actions I feel like the "village it takes to raise a child" let her down.

So many members of her family could have stepped up and been a positive influence instead of spreading rumors and looking down their noses at her and her mother. She could have had a very special relationship with her aunt who shared some of her interests but that didn't happen, they virtually have no relationship at all.

I feel responsible too. I could have stepped up and been a bigger part of her life. After all I lived right next to her for a large portion of her childhood. But I didn't do it, and now I wonder if everyone who was part of her village had done something to influence her in a positive way maybe she wouldn't be in so much trouble now. I very strongly believe that when a child is told they will never amount to anything never think they are worth more than that.