Ageism

The Case Against Reverse Ageism

Posted by: Anti-Ageism Task Force

Monday, May 26, 2008 — Brett Anningson’s “Social Studies” column, in today’s edition of Canada's Times & Transcript, examines the pros and cons of aging, and serves as a reminder that ageism is not always directed at those toward the upper end of their lifespans.

Anningson rightfully credits ILC-CEO Robert N. Butler, M.D. with first coining the term ageism in 1969, pointing out that the word was initially used to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned after the definitions of sexism and racism.

Specifically, Dr. Butler defined ageism as a combination of three connected items:

• prejudicial attitudes towards older persons, old age and the aging process
• discriminatory practices against older people
• institutional practices and politices the perpetuate stereotypes about older people

However, Anningson notes, as people became more attuned to such issues, ageism as a concept broadened to include issues of discrimination against younger people.

In the United States, it is legal for children under the age of 18 to be employed for less than the minimum wage. In fact, labor regulations also limit the age at which people are allowed to work, for how many hours, and under what conditions. In the United States, you must be at least 14 years old to seek a job, and face additional restrictions until age 16, with many companies refusing to hire workers altogether until they are over 18.

Less tangible forms of ageism against younger people include adultcentricism, adultocracy, and adultism, all forms of placing adults in a dominant position, both theoretically and practically, over younger people.

The United States federal government has responded to issues of ageism against younger people through several measures. They include the 1970s-era National Commission on Resources for Youth, which was created in the late 1960s to promote youth participation throughout communities.

And more recently, the federal government implemented the Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act, aiming to curb redundancy among federal service providers of youth-afterschool programs, job training, guidance, and other younger person’s needs.

Ultimately, Anningson calls for society to see “beyond the stereotype to the individual,” rather than to “lump groups together based on one characteristic and say it is absolutely true for the whole; especially for something as arbitrary as age.”

His column ends with the poignent observation that his three-year-old teaches him as much as his 70-year-old grandfather, and “everyone I have ever met in between.”

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Related Links: 'Too old' or 'too young'; stop judging by age

Keywords: ageism

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