Ageism and Respect, by Amy Novoa

Whether you are old, middle-aged, or young, we all discriminate based on age. This is called ageism: disrespecting, or excluding someone from something because of his or her age. Ageism starts at a young age in most individuals. As a young child, my parents taught me to respect my elders. Through the years, I learned many misconceptions from friends, the media, school and other places in my community. It took me a few years to realize that what I learned growing up from everyone around me, I put into practice without the intention of doing it.

A stereotype like ageism can be very hurtful. I think, It can shorten the life of an adult. Many adults feel pressured to look young. One of the main motives for cosmetic surgery is this value of being “young” that society portrays. The effects of ageism towards elderly may be that they begin to see excessive effects in aging that make them less satisfied with their bodies. The media often portrays older adults as incapable of things like driving and working, or they are portrayed as overly opinionated people, who are very demanding. In American society, when I’ve heard that an adult has retired, it means they are “ready to be put out” even if the individual is happy with his or her life and has no means of feeling down because they are older. These negative perceptions of older adults cause people, literally, to treat them differently, unfairly. I strongly believe this is the reason we see discrimination towards the elderly in the workforce. Elderly people may be capable of working a job but because of their age, they are not considered for the job.

As children, or young adults, we often feel we are disregarded. Young adults also experience ageism. Teenagers are stereotyped as “a know it all”, causing drama, slow, lazy, uneducated, etc. Ageism can strongly affect a teenager as well as an adult. Adults have a tendency to target the younger generation because adults might feel they have more knowledge because they have lived more. This tendency causes the older group to exclude the younger leading to intimidation and insecurity. Insecurity in our youth may lead to rebellious attitudes, depression, or over-confidence. The list goes on. Every individual is unique but especially the young generation. Through the years, what I learned has all become a part of my character. I’ve experienced adults ignoring my opinions because they see I am a lot younger than them. I think this is where adults make a mistake. These adults obviously didn’t know exactly how this would affect me, or if it would affect me at all. Age does not mean superiority or inferiority.

“Just because we can, should we?” The choice is yours, although making the choice of discriminating will only lead to greater struggles. Our society is described as maintaining a stereotypic perception of adults and young ones. We are all victims but we are sometimes the offenders as well. I see our society struggle for equality because of our diversity, which is why everyone should recognize ageism and try to get rid of it in our society.