the traditional role of grandparents

As described by John G. Neihardt in "When the Tree Flowered," as parents of the indigenous people of the northern plains were providing for their children's survival, the grandparents were doing the things that assured cultural survival. They were the teachers, through story telling and the making of things. 

For instance, a boy's first bow would be made for him by a loving grandfather who would then coach him in the making of his next bow. The grandmother's hands were busily engaged in making beaded moccasins and clothing for their grandchildren in whom they took great pride and while the children watched. 

Children would learn all important things through the tutelage and demonstrations provided by the grandparent's generation.

Compare that to today as grandparents are often thrust aside and cultural indoctrination and support is provided through peer grouping and through connective digital devices. Add to this mix the fact that in schools, children are grouped by age for the sake of control while being offering ineffective transference of knowledge. We are building a culture that lacks depth, in part because we've abandoned the traditional relationship between generations. What's new is now the driving force, and things related to the past, even yesterday's past, are quickly discarded.

We live in a time in which even simple tools are put aside in preference for high tech devices. It's a plague in which natural curiosity has been commandeered and placed in the hands of super-predator high-tech corporations and the traditional role of the grandparent's generation has been usurped.

Reclaim our direct human role in furthering skill, intellect and human culture. Anaxagoras, early Greek philosopher explained that man is the wisest of all animals because he has hands. That's true even to this day. Use hands to teach.

Make, fix and create...