It means, in my household, that my children are raised by my husband and myself and my aunt, grandmother, mother and the bio-dad of my oldest all watch them at some point and when they do, they inevitably raise them, discipline them, etc. – same goes for the educators at the pre-school, people I trust to develop my child. While parents are a very important influence, they will never be the only one. As far as what’s appropriate for the village to do, that varies, especially by culture. Because my family is Russian-Armenian, the older generation believes they are the ones to raise my children and that I’m a secondary force (a source of conflict, often)...because my husband’s family is American, they take a background role and though they provide advice and their opinions, they know the decisions are up to us. I believe each parent should be clear when giving the child over to the village as to what they expect of them. The village, imo, has a responsibility to never override the parents unless they truly and honestly believe the child to be in immediate danger.