CLEVELAND: Racism and sexism have been battles fought and won. Even gay rights has triumphed. But ageism remains.
One study suggested that experiencing age discrimination diminished older people’s will to live. Another reported that seniors who harbored negative views about old age faced life expectancies that were, on average, seven and a half years shorter than those of their peers.
Ageism, like other forms of prejudice, is rooted in ignorance, lack of experience, and countless failures to exercise curiosity, imagination, and empathy.