EDITOR'S COLUMN BY MARIëTTE BURGER - After having spent the first seven years of our parenting journey in Graaff-Reinet, I’ve come to realise that the testimony by every small-town parent extolling the virtues of raising kids in a small town is indeed true.
(There are some small drawbacks too, but, for the purpose of this week's column, I've chosen not to sweat the small stuff!)
Living in a small town is basically growing up in a giant family and it is right here in this town where I am planting our children's roots.
It is where almost their entire family grew up and now lives. My kids get to grow up living a block away from their cousins, grandparents and friends, while the town itself offers them history, tradition and charm.
In fact, the reasons why I want my children to grow up here, are too plentiful to mention, so I 've decided to streamline it down to just one reason in particular.
It’s all about community. Try as they may, no mall or movie theatre can compete with that.
The old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is no more apparent than in this little Karoo town.
Everyone knows who your children are, where they go to school and help to keep an eye on them.
If I run late picking the kids up from school, I know several moms who would stand outside the school with them ensuring they are not alone. Also, while city kids can easily avoid detection by their parents, small-town troublemakers get away with much less.It’s not so easy to get away with bad behaviour when everyone around you is either your uncle, your teacher or your dad’s hunting buddy.
Small-town parents have a leg up here: whether their offspring like it or not, everywhere they go they’re being watched, guided and cared for by their loving and downright nosy community.
Imagine growing up in a place where you run into at least four people you know whenever you leave your house. A place where news (and gossip) travel so fast that strangers will know things about you before your own parents do.
A place where your friends live only blocks away and you grow up with the same crowd of kids until you go your own separate ways after matric - most likely to reunite the day you settle down.
The masses of visitors coming together during interschools attest to the fact that the kids who grow up here and go to school together, tend to remain close even after spending years apart doing their own thing. They still head back to interschools to see what everyone has been up to over the years.
Here, in Graaff-Reinet, basically everyone is "locally famous" which is immensely special, because the people know you and appreciate you.
You are not just a face; you are a real person, and you are loved.
'We bring you the latest Graaff-Reinet, Karoo news'
