I read this article that felt sort of ageist to me. The author is 31.

Chatting with Mom. 

This month I've been blogging about Healthy Aging in honor of Older Americans Month, so I've been on the lookout for current media that includes relevant topics.  I've been especially interested in finding communities and articles that change any negative ageist stereotypes. 

I came across this article from Rewire titled:  I Made a New Friend During COVID. She's 60.  I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive since I'm 61, but the title itself seemed mildly offensive to me. Why is it news that the new friend is 60?  

The article is about intergenerational communication and volunteer organizations that help promote connection during Covid, all things I very strongly believe in.  In fact, I even was a volunteer for Love For Our Elders, one of the organizations mentioned.

I get it that the article's title needed to convey a 'hook' and maybe more people will read it than if it simply said something like "Intergenerational Friendships Flourish Through Connecting Non-Profits."  Even just leaving off the "She's 60" would have been much better.  It's as though no one would expect a 60-year-old could be a new friend.  

Another annoying part or this article came when the 31-year-old author wrote:

Gayle is clearly in the 73 percent of older adults who use the internet, up from 14 percent in 2000— she actually got on the video call before me. 

As a 61-year-old software engineer, I was definitely offended at the implication that a 60-year-old was being commended for her technology skills because she "actually" got on the video call before the 31-year-old author.

We, who are in our 60's, may not have been using personal computers in our childhoods, but it's a rare 60-year-old who isn't quite familiar with technology and smart-phones.  This ageist stereotype of "older" people being technophobes is as insulting to me as the stereotype that women can't be engineers.

OF COURSE the number of "older adults" who use the internet is up from 2000! What a ridiculous statistic.  (In fact, I was very annoyed at the referenced article too, but for the record, the "73% of older adults" were over 65 and Gayle is only 60, so, again, too young to be made as an example here at all.)

Even when we're talking about 65 years old, that statistic doesn't mean much. Internet usage is up at every age! Those "older adults" were 21 years younger and weren't counted as "older adults" when the study was done in 2000.  They've been dependent on technology and computers just as much as anyone else in the work-force. 

I'm not saying that there aren't older people who don't use the Internet... many because they are intimidated by the technology and many, because they were already out of the workforce in 2000, when the first study was done.   Maybe they have heard about the negative side and are choosing not to engage. Older people can have "ageist" and unfair attitudes about how younger people use technology.

When a 60-year-old gets on a  Zoom call more quickly than her 31-year-old friend, maybe it's because millennials are "inconsiderate."   While this is a negative stereotype, unlike the positive spin the author was trying to paint in portraying the 60-year-old as tech-savvy, it still seems ageist to me.  Of course, a 60-year-old is going to be able to get on a video-call as successfully as a 31-year-old.  Either age may have trouble (technology difficulties are common in every age group!)

I'm sure the author of this article was not intending to offend or be ageist or disrespectful.  In fact, he's obviously someone who cares about our older, vulnerable, isolated seniors, and was only trying to help spread the word of ways we can improve intergenerational communication.

However, the first way is to not make stereotypical assumptions based on age. 

Maybe I'm also overly-sensitive about this because I love technology. I don't like there to be judgments of others, either on their over-use or under-use of technology.  

I would love everyone, at every age, to feel confident and comfortable in communicating with one another any way they can - via video chat, phone, text, snail mail, or best of all (now that we'll soon be on the other side of Covid), a good old-fashioned face-to-face visit!