Positive And Negative Effects Of Ageism Essay

Words: 593
Pages: 3

Ageism is defined as prejudice or discrimination on the basis of someone’s age. As a result, ageism can be prevalent in situations as simple as not inviting one’s young looking coworker to happy hour and as damaging as firing an older employee because of stereotypical alleged deficits associated with age. Nonetheless, ageism negatively impacts many age groups by placing people into stereotypical boxes rather than allowing them to be judged based on their own skills and abilities. Although ageism affects both young and old cohorts, ultimately, the social constructs behind it can be detrimental to an elderly individual’s health.
The negative ideas associated with ageism are not only hurting the elderly in the short run, but research has proven that it may shorten their lives in the long run. Countless problems
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This can be extremely damaging to their physical and mental health. People are judged based on their chronological age and those judgments can affect their entire life. For example, when a school district forces a 70-year-old teacher who has been working for her entire life to retire, her social age and subjective age may suffer because her place in society has shifted. You will also find that her functional and physiological age may suffer because she is no longer moving around a classroom and engaging with students which can keep her mind young (L.F. Levy-Storms, personal communication, September 22, 2016).
Ultimately, ageism can be just as damaging as racism or sexism. Ageism, however, goes unacknowledged, which in itself can cause a myriad of problems because the people facing this problem are not validated which can damage their self-perception. We need to work together as a society to ensure that people of all ages are treated fairly because no one should have to face discrimination based on things out of their