A staple of The Walking Dead universe is the post-apocalyptic children who have lived among the survivors since day one. Although the show's many families began their journeys independently, we quickly witness a shift in familial relationships as all members of the core group begin to take on parenting roles, such as teaching self-defense and providing emotional comfort. This shift to group-parenting is prominent throughout the entire series.

In the most recent episodes, The Walking Dead once again embraced the group's approach to post-apocalyptic parenting. Before Earl Sutton passes away in the episode "Walk With Us," he explicitly voices his expectation that his adopted son, Adam, will now be cared for by Alden. Meanwhile, in the episode "What We Become," Judith finds comfort in knowing she and her little brother will be taken care of by Daryl as she urges her mother, Michonne, to go on a journey without her. These developments make it clear that the children of The Walking Dead are just as comfortable with the members of their close-knit community as they are with their parents, and that a tribe-centric perspective on parenting is normal in their universe.

RELATED: The Walking Dead: 10 Things We Want To See In Season 11

From Carl to Adam to Judith, the children of The Walking Dead are actually very fortunate to grow up with so many people looking out for their well-being and teaching them essential life skills. Without members of the group stepping up to help raise these children, there is no question that they would not survive as long. Evidence of this group responsibility for the children is seen in Carl's final moments when Daryl is tasked with taking baby Judith away to safety while Rick and Michonne stay with the dying Carl.

This group-mentality of protecting the kids is entirely rooted in our primal instincts to protect the young and vulnerable during times of crisis. Evidence of tribal parenting can be traced back to numerous Indigenous groups and prehistoric humanity at a time when birth parents had so much to contend with outside of the family that they required their community's support -- much like the world of The Walking Dead.

Since early humans realized being exhausted from parenting was not conducive to also supporting the survival needs of the tribe, communal parenting was adopted to lighten the collective load. In the apocalypse seen on The Walking Dead, certain actions are needed to be taken for the sake of survival, too. When thinking of parenting in this context, the survivors' instinct to collectively take care of their youngest and most vulnerable members should come as no surprise. Since the apocalypse tends to force close living quarters, everyone in the community reasonably adopts an unspoken obligation to care for nearby offspring. If the group shares the complicated and tiring responsibility of parenting, the group as a whole is much better equipped for the grueling task of survival.

RELATED: Walking Dead Theory: The Group In Michonne's Final Episode Is [SPOILER]

This phenomenon is not exclusive to zombie apocalypses as seen in The Walking Dead or to more primal tribes. A modern-day equivalent of cooperative parenting is a couple moving back to their hometown to raise their family closer to their own family so they have people within reach who they trust to babysit or help with miscellaneous parenting duties.

Another modern example of the practice of "alloparenting," the act of sending children off to school every day to be educated, disciplined and fed by other members of society without the presence of their parents. Alloparenting is attributed to helping offspring develop strong social intelligence while also benefiting the parents themselves by providing the opportunity to rest and recharge so when their children return, they can match their kids' youthful energy.

Since we see the benefits of group-parenting play out onscreen via Judith's close relationship to Daryl since her birth, Carl's dramatic development in emotional sensitivity with Michonne's guidance and Earl's unwavering trust in Alden's ability to protect baby Adam, it is clear that this group-parenting style creates well-rounded and quickly matured children. Despite not living in the apocalypse ourselves, we could definitely learn a thing or two about parenting from the post-apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead, where everyone shares some sense of responsibility for everyone else.

The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton and Cooper Andrews. It airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.

KEEP READING: Walking Dead CCO Addresses Michonne Joining the Rick Grimes Movies