Please, don’t think of me as some raged teenager, although I do passionately believe in equal rights for everyone and that nobody should be discriminated against, I will try to keep my cool.
Now let’s jump into things. A book by Todd D. Nelson, Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons, states in its first chapter that;
“In first encounters, age is one of the earliest characteristics we notice about other people (Fiske 1998; Kite, Deaux, and Miele 1991). Conscious or not, noticing age drives our interactions with others. Age seems to answer: How should I address them? What are their political views? What do they know about popular culture? Will they be competent? Socially aware? How should I talk? How loudly?”
Think about this. It shouldn’t be too hard. Put yourself in their shoes. What would you do, think, or say in response to someone talking to you as if you are inferior to them? Or if they don’t expect you have the same knowledge as them? Must be hard, right? To think that someone would put you down for being a capable adult. How atrocious! How could one have the audacity to undermine you and tell you, you are incapable? OH THE HUMANITY!
Why must we automatically assume that just because someone is of a younger or older age that they are incapable of holding the same level of knowledge?
Welcome to the Ageism where adolescents and older persons have been targeted for years on end!
Retirement was first put in to place in the 1840’s (Lakehead University, n.d.). However, it’s not the retirement we know today. It roughly started around the time that machinery was being introduced in factories. Lakehead University states that;
“What happened in many firms mirrored the model used at the Ford Motor Company. With the development of assembly lines, Ford developed a production model that emphasized repetition and speed rather than craft and skill. This resulted in a deskilled workforce that replaced earlier generations of skilled tradespersons.” (Lakehead University, n.d.)
Well done Ford. Forcing people to retire because the machinery can get it done quicker. Well sure, upon thinking about it, it makes perfect sense. It’s efficient. However, this was done without providing benefits or pension for all the people that “retired”.
It was in the 1960’s that Robert Neil Butler first used the word “ageism”(Legacy of Dr. Robert N. Butler, 2015). Robert was one of the first major people to speak up about ageism. He studied gerontology, meaning the “study of old persons”, and dedicated his entire life to bettering it(Legacy of Dr. Robert N. Butler, 2015). An entire life dedicated to bettering a situation that shouldn’t even exist. But it does exist, doesn’t it? Why? The young people you discriminate against, they become adults and then by that time, you’re “old” and the elderly that you also discriminate against, you will end up at that age too. So be kind to people! Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and try to understand things from their point of view. Let’s change history and stop calling people incapable as soon as they hit 60. Let’s let teenagers speak their mind because let’s face it, we are extremely in touch with the media, so we understand what’s going on in it.
Treat people with respect and it’s what you’ll get back.
Bibliography:
Bytheway, B. (1995). Ageism. Buckingham: Open University Press
Ageism: Concepts and Theories. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lco-cdo.org/en/older-adults-lco-funded-papers-charmaine-spencer-sectionII
Legacy of Dr. Robert N. Butler. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://aging.columbia.edu/about-columbia-aging-center/legacy-dr-robert-n-butler
Nelson, T. (2002). Doddering but Dear: Process, Content, and Function in Stereotyping of Older Persons. In Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons (p. 5). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Retirement. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://flash.lakeheadu.ca/~mstones/retirement.html
Ageism 
