Getting old is scary; getting old in the classroom is also scary. In this article, the authors, both beginning their seventh decade and have been connected to St. Michael's College for more than thirty years, inscribe themselves and others like them within a narrative of aging and pedagogy that mitigates the terror by contesting and refuting…

Discusses and debunks myths and stereotypes about older workers including their reaction to change and their ability to communicate. (JOW)

Identifies and briefly discusses three aspects of the problem of ageism: (1) prejudicial attitudes; (2) discriminatory practices against the elderly; (3) institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypic beliefs about the elderly and undermine their personal dignity. (Author/GC)

Drawing from recent research, this paper attempts to refute some of the commonly held assumptions about the inevitable decline of intellect as part of the aging process and point to ways educators can expand educational opportunities for older adults. After exploring some of the myths and stereotypes about senile, disoriented, helpless, rigid,…

Ageism (unfair stereotyping of older adults), deeply embedded in the culture of 20th-century America, is reinforced by television and newspapers. The media depict old people as rigid, meddlesome, sexless, conservative, unhealthy, and forgetful. Most pernicious of all old age stereotypes is that of second childhood. Popular culture portrays…

Notes that suicide is common in old age, but public opinion remains negative. Following a review of theories of suicide and summary of arguments against suicide, constructs argument for why elderly have unique claim to an ethical, unobstructed suicide. Claim rests on their "developmental autonomy," based on experience and wisdom of the elderly.…

Relates information and referral (I&R) services to the specific needs of the older adult. Subjects considered include special problems of older adults, stereotyping, ways of dealing with older adults in the context of I&R, problem callers, relationships with other agencies, and situations when I&R cannot help. (Author/JD)

The plight, as well as the possibilities, of the aging in today's and tomorrow's world can best be perceived within a framework of the changing relationship between the information and communications systems of society and older persons. Unlike the elders in stable societies, who have traditionally served as repositories of information, the aging…

Discusses research suggesting that television viewing contributes to negative attitudes and low levels of knowledge about older people. Using the same data set and measurements, concludes that the effect of television viewing on knowledge and attitudes about older people is small and restricted to younger people. (NRB)

Psychological and physical segregation are not conditions intrinsic to the aging process--they are created and propagated by society's response to it. Eradication or reduction of older adults' role loss, collective stereotyped treatment, and physical separation require the awareness and application of gerontological concepts in public library…

A commonly held bias in American society is that being an old woman is not a desirable state. One variety of this bias is stereotyping, which involves a restrictiveness of attitudes, so that old women are seen as possessing a limited and circumscribed set of qualities or characteristics. Restrictiveness also is associated with distortion and…

Individuals may be stigmatized (discredited) if their attributes make them less than what is expected for the social categories into which they are placed. A tentative typology of situations can be developed, based on their potential for producing the stigmatization of old age. In daily situations that do not demand excessive physical or mental…

Discusses the common stereotypes of the older adult in college reading programs; describes the educational performance of these students and outlines provisions to consider in planning for the older reader. (MAI)

Longevity is leading to four-generation societies and transcendence of governmental and conventional age-controlled productivity. Elderly women's numerical superiority are influencing a firmer attitude toward self and lessening stereotypes of women as caregiver of the ill and elderly. "Fourth-age" people see empowerment as necessary for…

Suggests that a transactional perspective to interpersonal communication with older persons will facilitate communication cross-generationally. Factors addressed include negative stereotypes, fears of aging, crises encountered as the person ages, and later life cycle changes in exposure to interpersonal communication and ability to negotiate…