- Columbia Public Schools
- More than Me
A Misunderstood Population
If we’re all going to be old, why do we make fun of the elderly? Pretty much everyone makes fun of the elderly here and there. We make fun of them for their looks, ability to move, intelligence, etc. Why is our culture so disrespectful to the elderly? I’m not sure. I feel that our culture should treat elders with respect because we will all one day be old and possibly more handicapped. Perhaps part of the reason we make fun of them is that we don’t know enough about them. We fear what we don’t understand. This paper will address and give solutions on how to better educate people on the elderly.
A little background for why I chose this project: I can relate to what I'm writing about. I have an elderly family member that (if you didn’t know him) could be made fun of easily due to his disabilities. That person is my grandpa. He is 77 and has Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's. He lives in an assisted living retirement home alone. He is a really funny and nice guy, and I would hate it if him, or anyone his age, was mistreated because just because they’re old. My grandpa is a really cool guy that doesn’t deserve criticism just because he is old and has a disease.
Pretty much every culture has their own way of treating the elderly. Here in the U.S., we put them in retirement homes and younger people sometimes make fun of and disrespect them. However, this is not the worst case scenario. In Nomadic societies (like in the deserts and the arctic), the child of the elderly literally murder their parents once they are older and slower. On the happier side of things, in western cultures (like Asia) encourages families bringing the elderly in their family into their homes to live until they die. Although the United States isn’t the worst case of treatment of the elderly, but it sure is not the best.
My solution to the lack of respect is simple, but we have to understand something first: people discriminate against what they don’t understand. So, I think there should be more programs and classes to help people better understand elders. There could be programs where you shadow/help out an elder to learn more about what it’s like to be in their shoes and what your future might hold. There could be high school/college classes or community courses for adults so that everyone can have a somewhat better idea of what it’s like to communicate or interact with the elderly. We could also offer some classes like for new parents who want to know about having and raising a child. But instead only for people who have a parent who is growing very old. The classes instead could help them understand how to deal with different scenarios. Another way that people could understand the elderly better would be a program like the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. This way a person could shadow an elderly man or woman to learn how to work with elderly person better. It would benefit both the elder and the person shadowing because the elder would have extra assistance and the person shadowing would have further experience with helping in different situations.
Others can get involved by, if willing and able, helping out at a retirement home. This will help you better understand what it’s like to be in the elderly’s shoes. It will also help you advocate for the elderly because you’ll better understand them. It won’t make a huge impact, but every little bit helps.
I don’t think there is much I can do to have a big impact on this issue. However, I can advocate to people about it. I can tell them that there is nothing right about making fun of the elderly because they don’t want to be in the position they’re in. They can’t help it! Although I can’t completely solve the problem I will at least advocate for the elderly. To sum everything up: Be nice to the elderly. Instead of making fun of them, respect them and don’t let others make fun of them either.
Works Cited
http://blog.ted.com/what-its-like-to-grow-old-in-different-parts-of-the-world/
http://theweek.com/articles/462230/how-elderly-are-treated-around-world
http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5962335/k.BE16/Home.htm