Ever heard of the term 'Ageism'? This term may be rarely heard. Just like 'Racism' and 'Sexism', Ageism is an act of discrimination based on a person's age. Or a picture of how to view a person's quality through his age. This happens because of the stereotypes that have been embedded in society.
Without realizing it, ageism can happen anytime and anywhere in our daily life. For example, “You are still a child, what do you know?” This sentence is usually said to the millennial generation. Society illustrates that the millennial generation is a generation that is always considered spoiled or dependent on their parents. Then it is considered as a generation that is lazy to read books because of the influence of technological developments, and is always considered rash in making every decision.
Another example is on Rosi's television program which was broadcast by Kompas TV on October 25, 2018. Rosi's presenter was interviewing Gustika Jusuf there. When Rosi interviewed Gustika, Rosi used the word "millennial" a lot, which means Rosi sees Gustika as just a teenager in general, rather than the substance of the conversation.
Not only in millennials, ageism can occur in the elderly. The elderly are always likened to a weak, lonely and dependent figure. A person's productivity is also considered to have ended when he entered old age. This is in accordance with the phrase once said by the philosopher Seneca, "We view old age as a disease," he said. Quoted from the Healthjournalism.org page, Todd Nelson, a psychology professor from California State University once revealed, "The whole society makes stereotypes that old people are useless, unwanted and a burden. This tells young people that being old is bad," he said. This is based on his research which considers that negative perceptions due to age will have an impact on adults on several levels.
The harmful effects resulting from the practice of ageism are health for the elderly. Quoted from the Who.int page, research conducted by Levy et al showed that older adults with negative attitudes about aging lived 7.5 years less than those with positive attitudes.
The negative impact that can be felt for teenagers is a loss of self-confidence, with swear words such as "What can you do? You are still young, lack of experience. You don't have to know." Things like this cause most teenagers to stagnate, because they never get the opportunity to advance.
How to Fight Ageism?
- Speak up
Dare to express feelings of discomfort if someone feels that they are approaching age discrimination, such as the number of office jobs that must be done by new children and job reductions for members who look old.
- Up to date
Always follow the latest trends or news in all aspects and don't be shy to associate with people of different ages. By hanging out at different ages can also provide life lessons that are more meaningful for each other. Don't hesitate to create social media accounts so you can keep up with the times.
- Open minded
Do not think monotonously or just follow the structure in people's mindsets. Applying thinking in various sides by thinking about the conditions of others and so on.
