The meme contained a scowling older man holding a remote and yelling, “What channel is Netflix?”
Ha ha.
The message is clear: older people can’t figure out technology.
I receive many such memes, jokes, cartoons in my inbox. I’m not about to start a war with my contacts and friends by replying, ‘This is ageist and I’m offended.” I sigh and cringe and send them to the trash. But maybe that’s not enough.
I need to talk about ageism.
“Ageism is the stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people based on their age.”1
I find it disturbing that this often comes from people my own age. Poking fun at aging isn’t any more acceptable from people who are in that age bracket. There’s even a label for it–self-ageism.
Ageism goes both ways. People make assumptions about young people: you can’t do this/understand this because of your age. The apostle Paul knew this when he spoke to the young pastor, Timothy. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young…” 2 Ageism has been around a long time! For our discussion, we are going to focus on ageism toward the elderly.
Why talk about ageism? Is an offensive joke or a bad attitude that important? Yes, because 
it’s much more than that. It affects the workplace, the government and every sector of our society. And here’s a scary statistic. The World Health Organization says that one in every two people have ageist attitudes. Half of us. I think we need to examine this.
Robert N. Buler, founder of the National Institute on Aging, first coined the term in 1969. Butler defined ageism as a combination of three connected elements: negative attitudes towards old age and the ageing process, discriminatory practices against older people, and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about elderly people 3
Negative attitudes toward aging and old age
When I worked full time with the elderly, residents would often tell me about their challenges. Multiple medical problems, memory issues, needing to downsize and leave the homes they loved. They would end by saying, “Aging isn’t for sissies.” I didn’t have an answer for that.
Now, from the perspective of an elder myself, I’ve learned that life isn’t for sissies. I remember being an insecure and frightened teenager and an exhausted young mom. My entire middle age was filled with fear and trying to make ends meet. I experienced many joys along the way and incredible tragedies. Life never felt easy; it doesn’t feel easy today. When Butler talks about negative attitudes toward aging and old age, he means this: the difficulties of aging aren’t a badge of honour. Now that I am here, I don’t believe the difficulties of aging are worse, just different. The challenges I struggle with are real, but I am thankful for every day God gives me. Not everyone gets the privilege of reaching old age.
Next week: How ageism affects our society, our government and our healthcare.
1. https://ccaageism.ca
2. 1 Tim. 4:12a
3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageism#:~:text=Ageism%20is%20a%20type%20of%20discrimination%20based,policies%20that%20perpetuate%20stereotypes%20about%20elderly%20people.