Noa Schwartz

It is well-known that devaluing elders is more common in western culture. However, in eastern cultures, most people view elders as valued members of society and devote time to caring for them, often welcoming older family members into their homes when they reach a point in which they cannot support themselves. 

According to the Columbine Health Systems Center for Healthy Aging, “Western cultures have traditionally been labeled as ageist societies that undervalue their older adult populations.” 

America is a predominantly westernized culture and as a student at the University of Oregon, I have often heard comments from peers about fears of aging. Students have said things such as “I never want to be old because of how I will look” or they express the fear of losing part of themselves and mental capacity to illnesses or physical strains. 

Ironically, even in a classroom of college students actively studying under people older than themselves, I still hear comments about older people “grossing them out” — which deeply disturbs me. 

As someone with a very close relationship with my grandparents, who I profoundly admire and attribute to much of who I am today, I can not help but feel personally defensive against the blatant, ageist comments people make. With my grandma’s recent passing and my grandpa still in the workforce, I feel afflicted by certain comments from my peers. 

I don’t think these fears of aging or the future are irrational, but projecting them onto other human beings at later stages in their lives is foolish, cruel and illogical. 

I asked a few students if they had witnessed any forms of “ageism” on campus or in other settings such as work, internships or events. The pair I interviewed were human physiology students, Jeremiah Bogaard and Joe Lairson. 

Bogaard responded, “Yeah, there is one older guy in one of my anatomy labs, and people aren’t necessarily mean to him, but they’ll make comments like ‘the older guy is in my class.’” 

He added that although he’s a great classmate and “always got a smile on his face,” many people don’t talk to him. Bogaard shared that he has spoken with him several times, exchanging stories and talking about why the classmate returned to school. 

Lairson added “he’s a super nice guy” and remarked he had more energy and enthusiasm for the class than many of his other classmates. 

Ageism and stigmas surrounding our older classmates exist here at UO, even on a ‘progressive’ campus. But these students demonstrate the simplest way to combat them: just be kind. 

When I hear discussions about “ageism,” it’s frequently by younger generations voicing concerns about entering the workforce or feeling overlooked because they are too young. 

But, according to Merriam-Webster, ageism is “prejudice or discrimination against a particular age group and especially the elderly.” 

Past a certain age, many discriminate against our older generations’ ability to work. I had a classmate say that they wanted the age for presidents to be capped at 60 years old. This caught my attention as a preposterous notion — seeing as 60 is not old in the grand scheme of things and most 60-year-olds work — but it seems to be more popular than I expected. 

They argued that since there is an age minimum for running for president, there should be a maximum. And, in a surprisingly bipartisan study from the Pew Research Center’s poll, “most Americans favor maximum age limits for federal elected officials, Supreme Court justices.” 

Peyton Taylor, in “A Presidential Age Limit Is Not the Solution,” wrote that while she does believe we need more young people in government and “mental fitness is vital for the presidency … forcing an age limit on politicians would indicate a mistrust in the American people’s ability to make their own decisions. This applies to the age minimum, as well.” 

Aging is one, if not the most, natural part of being a human, and every single person on this planet will age differently, physically and mentally. 

My grandpa, in his mid-70s, works as a personal trainer, and not only does he work every day but he trains clients decades older than himself. And he loves his job. 

To say that our older generations just need to stop working after a specific age is so small-minded and generalizing of an entire population. Especially if this is applied to politicians, it would set a precedent for the entire working world to force people into retirement, and take away a right to choose when and how they retire.