Quick Blog #6

Age Diversity

Write a paragraph in which you respond to the following questions:

1. Is your social sphere (family, work, school, friends, hobbies, etc.) comprised of people of diverse ages?  How often do you regularly encounter young people and elders? Do you wish you had more interactions with youth or elderly people?

There are a lot of people that work behind the scene in the theater and film communities, people that look like normal (relatively kept and other days not so kept) human beings. As an actor, the amount of people between 15 and twenty make up the sea of individuals I find myself around. I’ll come across a middle aged person during an audition, but these are usually the people I see behind the doors, after encountering the sea of youngins like myself.

2. In many ways, our society is segregated on the basis of age.  Why do you think that is?  How are young people and old people often socially marginalized?  How and why are young adults and middle-age adults often advantaged and privileged due to their age?

I feel like youth tend to be more out going. I heard in a television show “New York City is for those who are in their twenties.” I think that was the real house wives of Atlanta. I’m probably more likely to find a community of elders up in Vermont. The privilege the young and middle age have is the amunt of social groups to be with. I find that my grandparents are really relying on family to keep them company. Maybe because they don’t want to get out. I always think about how wonderful it is to call up a friend and hang out while on the flip side those who are up in age my not have that luxury “Ethan, my friends are all gone.” A high school teacher of mine, probably in her 70’s, once told me as I was getting clarification of one of her assignments before the school day began. It’s a scary thought that most people don’t want to think about: the day we have out lived all our friends. Don’t want to think about that type of competing.

3. What are some possible ways to promote greater integration of all ages/generations and to challenge age-based segregation?  How can we as a culture work to promote respect for people of all ages, especially greater respect for old people?

            Watching old movies, listening to old songs. I prefer to call them classic, I feel their timeless. It’s fun when I’m watching a documentary about Shirley temple and my grandma comes and sits down, because that never happens.  Then I ask her a question about where she was during the 1930’s and she takes me back. For those who don’t have grandparents, they might be able to strike up a conversation with an elderly person at a local church. Those are areas I’ve found I could strike up conversation. I actually got to shake the hands and look into the eyes of a ninety-year-old women. I felt like a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of experiences she must have had. but in all honesty it is very difficult to see a community of old people outside of an old person’s home. Why that is would be a question to raise.