Ageism sucks

[Blind Pew]

Most people have never heard of ageism. Most of the ones that have usually think of discrimination against elderly people.

Ageism is the discrimination of people based solely on their age.

It affects young people the most. Young people are often treated as second-class-citizens. Institutions such as public school only reinforce these beliefs.

While it is definitely not as bad as racism in the way that young people aren't killed or beaten, just for being young. It is just as bad in the way that no one thinks about it. It is a deeply ingrained part of our society.

If young people don't fight for equal rights, we will never be treated as equals.

The only way we are inherently different from adults, is that we are physically growing and are brains are developing. Adults often use the latter as an excuse to put us down or "protect" us. It doesn't mean that young people are inherently stupider than adults, it means that our brains simply work differently. We are just as smart, if not smarter, than most adults. We have a completely fresh view on the world, unhindered by the bigotry and prejudices of the previous generations, as long as they don't force those prejudices onto us.

Fight for equal rights for minors. We are people too. We deserve freedom and equality as much as anyone else!

[Renegade_Turner]

I find this is a severely biased account. Yes, ageism is a reality, but there's a reason in the majority of cases. There are exceptions, but young people on average are generally more reckless than elderly people. This would indicate a lack of wisdom. Why else would the majority of crashes on the road be caused by people between the ages of 16-25?

P.s. I am 19.

[nerodx]

What kind of freedoms do you want exactly? I feel pretty free myself right now and I'm 16. Can you give examples of things that you feel need to be fixed?

[Sandurz]

I'm 15, but I don't really think this is a bad thing in every case. Yea I'd like to swear in school, but that's not appropriate for that setting. Plus we really ARE developing, and they've already went through that. Doesn't that mean that (again, in most cases) they know better, because they went through it? Imagine that kids would have their way. I think that's one SCARY world.

[Ragdollmaster]

I agree, the legal drinking age should be six! The government is so crazy! And I think we should be able to drive by the age of four, too, if not earlier.

[DJisbored]

While I do agree that some minors can be way more intelligent than adults, we still don't have experience; we haven't gotten to learn from college courses and things like that to really qualify as "smarter". Also, I don't really see how schools are reinforcing agism: school is for learning how to help out the community, not because kids are such lesser beings for being younger.

Although, it would be nice if I could—having $200 dollars in my pocket—sit down in a chair to watch a demonstration of a product or try a taste tester, without being told to go get my parents beforehand.



P.S. ragdollmaster is right we need six year old drunk drivers (no sarcasm)

[Zhukov]

We are just as smart, if not smarter, than most adults. We have a completely fresh view on the world, unhindered by the bigotry and prejudices of the previous generations, as long as they don't force those prejudices onto us.

HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaahahahaaaheheheeeee... hehehahaha... heheheh... heh.

...

Don't worry kid. You'll grow out of it.

[zoidberg rules]

im 15 and i dont really need to fight to be treated as an equal, mainly because im taller than 9 out of 10 adults that i know, so i just call them short, but i have noticed the ageism in society. it's like you cant even run down the street looking intimidating any more without being arrested! lol. but yeah on a much more serious note we should fight to get equal rights as adults, but in the long run, most of the young people who i know who are being dicriminated against because of their age are usually to lazy to do so. but just think, give it a few years and the ageists will be relying on us to keep them in their care homes and such, and that is when we will start to fight back! lol

[Renegade_Turner]

I agree, the legal drinking age should be six! The government is so crazy! And I think we should be able to drive by the age of four, too, if not earlier.

You're my favourite.

Also, this reminds me of a discussion I was having with a woman of 38 years (apparently) on youtube on THIS video.

It really is most unparliamentary language. Anyway, the conversation went like this:

I only pray that the great nation of Ireland remains steadfastly independent and is not swallowed whole by the vampiric European Union.

I understand Scotland is considering leaving the UK?

"vampiric European Union"
have you even been in europe?? go troll somewhere else kid

I don't 'troll' - my comment was earnest. And I'm a 38 year old woman. And yes, I've been to Europe back when it wasn't socialist. I much admire it still, and hope it prevails.

"Vampiric European Union" is a bit extreme. I'd expect a bit more sense from a 38-year-old woman to be perfectly honest. For all the things the EU is, vampiric wouldn't really describe it. The EU has nourished countries, not sucked them dry.

True, 'Vampiric' is hyperbolic, but it's not just my opinion.You're young, and what you may 'expect' from me or anything, is based on emotion, not experience. Please know that My intention is not to condescend to you.You're generation seems to trust government more than previous ones. EU is a threat to sovereignty, like most huge gov't entities. And whatever charity gov't gives with one hand, it takes freedom away with the other. Question authority; The bigger it is, the more suspect. Take Care.

@haypenny Lol. You talk about experience, but your "experience" doesn't seem to account for much if you paint groups such as "young people" or "old people" with the same brush in terms of political views. There are just as much if not more young people who distrust authority, so I'm not sure where you got that from.
I've heard all that "question authority" bollocks before, but just because you don't think something is a good idea doesn't mean I'm wrong for not agreeing, nor is it due to my age.

[TheBigCheese]

Every kid goes through this exact stage somewhere around 13-17. It's right at that age where you think your brain is developed enough to make fully rational decisions, but you're not yet out of Highschool and on your own, so you don't have the actual freedom to test if you're ready.

One of the reasons that adults treat teenagers with less respect is that they have many, many less responsibilities than adults. No matter how you attempt to justify having responsibilities as a teenager, adults always have more. Partly, many adults are jealous in this regard that you have no job to worry about, no bills to pay, no family to raise, and have an entire life ahead of you, while they see theirs slowly dwindling down.

While many teenagers think they are perfectly adept at making responsible decisions, the fact is that until you have responsibilities, you simply don't have the perspective to be able to make a responsible decision equivalent to what an adult would see as responsible. It's not until you hit college and have a crash course in taking care of your life that you have the experience to be able to interact with adults on a similar level.

[Sandurz]

Not EVERY kid. I know I make moronic decisions.

[Renegade_Turner]

Give it a couple of years, that's when you start getting self-righteous.

[TheBigCheese]

Not EVERY kid. I know I make moronic decisions.

Ah, yeah, I was planning on ending that somewhere in that age range, kids also realize that they are in fact not able to make responsible decisions yet.

[Fournine]

What's unique about ageism relative to other forms of discrimination is that it's a time-dependent factor and everyone has the expected inevitability to transition through each of the sides.
In the case of juveniles, they'll eventually grow out of it (couldn't help myself) and become the very adults they believe are robbing them of rights.

Personally, I think anyone who is still financially dependent on their parents shouldn't be given the full rights of adulthood. Certainly, this raises the question of status during the expensive university years, but I also think higher education ought to be a free right, or at least inexpensive like in, well, anywhere but the United States where it's upwards of $40k a year.
However, it also allows self-determination for emancipated youths who choose to leave dependency on their parents, or are forced to by unfortunate events. Frankly, the statistics of success for such individuals without a support system is rather dismal.

Recently, I've been playing with the idea of regression to when only property owners were given full rights under the law, but that's likely due to my recent purchase of a condominium and the lovely mortgage that goes with it.

[Sandurz]

Give it a couple of years, that's when you start getting self-righteous.

I hope not -_-
I hate those assholes.