Al-Leyan/Child rearing

			Memory 118

When an Al-Leyan is born, the mother does not look after her child until the child is 10 years of age. The children are taken into care by an organization named Haemachuo, which looks after the people's children for 10 years, bringing them up in a secure, peaceful environment.

Haemachuo

Haemachuo was founded in 1728 when the Yul'shan party came into power in one of Leya-I's more prominent provinces. The institution was set up to mould the future of all Al-Leyans, beginning by moulding infants into model members of society. The public agreed and voted for the idea, due to the Haemachuo manifesto, which offered “a better and brighter future” and equality for all infants, whether rich or poor. In 1973 Haemachuo was adopted by both ruling Al-Leyan demi-global governments and took its place planet wide.

Workers of the institution are trained to notice any certain developmental difficulties a child may have, and act upon it, before it can reach a stage where it may cause problems in adult life. At the present time, there is customarily one Haemachuo carer to 4 children.

Haemachuo have certain requisites that workers have to meet. One such requirement is that they may not have children of their own. The pay at the institution is one of the highest salaries available on the planet, and is generally popular among young female Al-Leyans that are studying at university. A Haemachuo carer is trained for a full Al-Leyan year before they are ready to care for a group of children.

Children naturally form stronger bonds with the carers and their Haemmachuo siblings than with their parents and blood siblings. At 10 a child is still young and will, over time, develop a bond of some sort with their biological family but they wouldn’t be as close as family groups of other species. A child is raised to show the appropriate level of respect towards their family and to maintain a civilized level of contact with blood family as they continue their education.

Education

The point of having this method of education is to allow every child the same opportunities to flourish and to mould the children into what they consider model citizens. Every child is raised the same way and they all subscribe to the same ideals, it’s a very controlled environment. They all have the same philosophical and cultural beliefs, they all adhere to the same behavioral codes. To some outsiders it may even be seen as conditioning.

They grow up knowing how they are expected to live and that if they stray from this - or fall from the branch - that efforts will be made to help them understand where they have gone wrong. Should the individual fail to change their way of thinking, they will have to be treated professionally at an attitude readjustment center. They accept this and are taught not to fear it, that it is good, that it could happen to anyone. Due to the careful way in which this is handle it is not unusual for Al-Leyans struggling with certain cultural or philosophical norms to come forward and request attitude readjustment therapy to help them achieve the correct way of thinking on the subject and end their turmoil.

However the upbringing is in many ways highly tailored to the individual because at every stage they make great efforts to identify each child’s strengths, weaknesses and talents. To this end they would keep detailed information about each child and use it to determine which branch each child goes into. The thinking behind this that it benefits society to bring out the best in every child. People feel good when they are successful, which is what happens when you do something you’re good at. So by digging into each person’s personality and putting them where they will shine the most they will have a happy and productive workforce.

After they finish high-school level education they typically take a fall year. They can move straight onto a career or further education if they choose but most take the fall year. It is a time where they take a break from studying, grow in self-sufficiency and decide where in their branch they wish to go. Many will take on a job to gain some work experience and it is a time to settle into the real world. Their options are limited in many ways but they do have enough autonomy and choice to live happy lives. It’s one of the things that allows this way of living and being to work for them.