You have already heard all about the youth culture. The corporate media has bombarded the world with airbrushed models and ads for tummy tucks and neck flab removal to the point of overkill.

But this youth culture has more than TV and Internet ads to blame for its existence. Did you ever consider that this country was founded by younger families who were strong enough to brave a trip on the Mayflower?

No way would a shipload of old men and women have ended up on the eastern shores of this country with new babies in hand, conceived and born during the trip. The oldest members of the tribe, so to speak, were left behind. The wisdom and storytelling of the elders was also left behind.

But that was not all bad. The daring and perseverance needed to last out the first years of the colonial life could only have been withstood by young virile bodies with no fear of the future. That is why the old men who make wars send in the under twenty year olds to fight from the trenches.

Younger people think they can never die. They think they are invincible. At least the ones who make it through basic training think so.

Yes, this country was founded and expanded by young people who broke trails from east to the west followed by young families in covered wagons seeking a life of opportunity. My own grandfather bought into the first family colony, which ended up being the city of Port Angeles.

He was adventuresome, having moved away from his family’s roots in Maine while other members of his family stayed there to work on farms even in tough times. After all, only the oldest son inherited the land, younger brothers becoming subservient or running away at an early age to find their fortunes elsewhere.

Daughters had to marry a husband who had hopefully inherited land. Why do you think there were so many so-called “old maids” in the old days? If a young woman couldn’t find a man and move with him to his land, she ended up being the servant of her family unless she took a job teaching school or as a governess or ran way to the big bad city to go into prostitution or work in some sweat shop factory.

In earlier times, the mature members of the family, after getting older and no longer able to do heavy work, began to help out in other ways. They became the nurse maids assisting new mothers and helping with the younger children, teaching them handcrafts and nursery rhymes and telling old stories handed down from their own grandmothers.

When the country industrialized and cities arose replacing much of the farm land of the past there were few grandmothers on hand to nurture and teach. City living has erased the family farm culture with all generations taking part in making a living and enculturating the young.

Without great grandpa telling stories of World War II or grandpa telling stories of Vietnam or great grandma telling about growing crops and making her own bread and grandma giving sound advice, young people grow up without the basic information and skill that they need.

Can you imagine a young mother of today being sent home from the hospital alone with a partner or husband, neither having first hand knowledge of how to care for a baby? They have to practice on their first child. This would not happen in countries that have given priority to families.

Dr. Spock’s book was my only support system in my day but he didn’t come into our home and change diapers, give me solace or hold my hand through post partum depression. Hopefully healthcare reform in this country will not ignore the needs of the brand new mother and father who are presently being abandoned to trial and error childrearing with only a how-to book on childrearing as a guide.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663.

This column is dedicated to Georgie's son’s wife, Alice, who has devoted much of her time in helping to acculturate her grandchildren.