Did you know that people actually discriminate against others based on their age? It's kind of stupid, isn't it, considering the fact that they can't help how old they are. Makes you wonder what this world is coming to, if we're discriminating against people because of something as stupid as their age!

 

I'm sure we've heard all these comments related to somebody's age, but we never really thought much about them.

 

"You're too young to understand."

"You're too old to have fun the way we do."

"You're young and don't know what's good for you."

"Oh, the child's five years old and is probably just making it up."

 

We don't give people credit for anything! We just look at them, see how old they are, and immediately jump to conclusions.

 

How many times have you seen a baby dressed up in the most ridiculous outfit you've ever seen because her grandmother thinks that she looks "cute as a button"?

 

How many times have you heard an adult tell little Mike to "give little Mary a nice kiss on the cheek"? What if little Mike doesn't want to give little Mary a nice kiss on the cheek? Small children have free will, too!

 

But it's like we don't think that they deserve to be respected because they're too young, and thus they are to be treated as adults' playthings until they are old enough to insist on being treated with respect.

 

We can stop this simply by remembering that small children also have free will, and we should respect that. We have to remember that just because they look like the most adorable little doll you ever saw, doesn't mean we have the right to dress them in frilly pink sweaters with purple bobbles.

 

 Small children are  human beings and as such, they deserve respect. They're too young to ask for it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it to them. It means that we should teach them from an early age that people should be treated with respect, wether they ask for it or not.

 

 

Society is MAJORLY ageist when it comes to teenagers! Everybody expects a teenager to be stupid. Everyone expects them to make stupid choices, and they act as though they don't have a brain and they must be ordered around.

 

It's true that teenagers are on a road to self discovery. It's true that they're confused most of the time, about who they are and what they're meant to do.

 

But it's NOT true that all teenagers make stupid choices!

 

It's NOT true that all teenagers go out and do drugs, drink and get pregnant!

 

And, most of all, it's NOT true that all teenagers remain immature all through their teenage years and into their early 20's!

 

I'm sure every teenager has experienced this:

 

They walk into a store with friends, and the people who work at the store watch them like hawks, and they make them feel so uncomfortable that when they're leaving they actually feel like they've stolen something and the alarm is going to go off.

 

OR

 

They're walking down the street with friends and people cross the road to walk on the other sidewalk when they see them coming.

 

OR

 

They're trying to explain something to their parents and their parents say, "You're so young, you think you know everything but you don't. You don't know what the real world is like."

 

Why don't adults give teenagers credit for anything? I mean, sure, teenagers are on the very thin line between childhood and adulthood, sometimes being incredibly mature and other times snapping back into horribly childish behaviour.

 

But they're learning.

 

Adults can help teenagers move into adult behaviour and STAY there (instead of snapping back into five-year-old-mode) by trusting them a little bit more.

 

If adults look past society's stereotype for teenagers, the standard that they have set for them, and REALLY get to know the teen they're dealing with, they'll discover that they're very different from:

 

 

 

Or the old man with the flat cap sitting at the park feeding the pigeons.

 

Why does this come to mind?

 

Because this is the stereotype we have set for older people.

 

But WHY?

 

Why does an older person have to be boring?

 

Why can't an older person have a sense of fashion?

 

Why can't an older person be fun?

 

Why does an older person have to complain about her granddaughter's short skirt while she bakes cookies?

 

If I were an older person, I would find it insulting that I'm supposed to be a boring, cranky old lady to be considered "normal".

 

Older people are just like any other person. They can also have fun, they can also have a sense of style, they can also drive at 150 km/h.

 

So stop thinking that grandparents are supposed to be boring old geezers that take naps every five minutes! This is a stereotype that is a lot easier to be stopped than the other ones, because they are considered adults and are therefore treated with more respect.

 

Well, if this respect is to be shown, then they wouldn't be expected to behave a certain way.

 

So, if you ever see an 85-year-old dancing to hip hop music in the middle of the dance floor, don't stare or laugh. They can have fun, too!