Ageism Discussion Point # 3

Your point that the solution is in "coming to terms with ourselves" couldn't be more true, Safiyyah.  What do folks think this would mean?  Do we marginalize the young or old as a function about how we feel about our own youth / fears of aging?

I personally believe “coming to terms with ourselves” points to the level of self-esteem and self-confidence we have within our own skins. People may define it in many ways, depending on who they are. An African-American may define it as understanding his or her place in the world as a person of color, or they may define it as a person who represents the United States, or even their hometown. Coming to terms for some, can mean knowing and acknowledging the privileges one has, and being grateful and giving in return. It can mean so many things!

In the context of age; I do feel like our associations are limited between age groups. This is because people in the public school system are segregated by age. Before, during the concept on one-room schoolhouse, we didn’t have an issue of ageism, because interactions between different age groups occurred in all areas of life, at home, in school, in church, etc. I can see evidence today as well in the Amish community; where they still practice the one-room schoolhouse theory, and thus the children have been conditioned to know how to behave with every age group, as well as type of person. Now, we teach children to segregate themselves, “She’s a Kindergarten Student, I’m a 2^nd Grader, Oh I can’t play with big boys, I have to play with my friends, etc” When people began associating the same-age group with their only social group and thus the only group they allowed to make friends from; you are setting the stage for Ageism.

Fast forwarding, each group is then taught to marginalize the other. It’s a basic concept to break a unity of a community. If a community’s elders, whose experiences grant them wisdom, and the community’s youngsters, who can physically act upon the advice of the elders join ideals and thoughts, they can cause many changes in their environment. Rather morbid example, but look at Hitler! He was able to cause a horrific genocide, of millions of people, through joining the minds of every German citizen, young, old, rich, or poor.