By now everybody has heard the sad tale about the pregnant teens of Gloucester, Mass. In a high school that usually records four pregnancies annually, this year they’ve already recorded 17. At least half of the girls reportedly made a pact to get pregnant and set out to find a sexual encounter to make this dream a reality. Finger pointing is in full swing, but if it takes a village to raise a child-doesn’t it stand to reason that it takes a village to destroy a childhood? The village will raise healthy children when the individuals in the village become healthy one at a time in community. This is going to take time and it starts with you and me.

(Dick Staub is the author of “The Culturally Savvy Christian” and the host of The Kindlings Muse (http://www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at http://www.dickstaub.com)