Raising Consciousness Will Improve Attitudes On Aging

CLEVELAND -- The answers to questions are not good on how people feel about getting old.

Raising public consciousness about how different generations feel about each other is important to working to improve attitudes, according to this week's Successful Aging report.

"Children, even in the earliest, with their earliest fairytales, tend to get a very skewed view of what older people are," said Eileen Beal, a geriatric and health writer.

Here are a few comments made by members of the younger generation.

"They don't like being around kids," said Taylor, a fourth-grader.

Courtney, a 12th-grader, said: "They're so stuck in the past and don't want to look forward to the future."

Research shows there are a variety of views on againg.

"They encouraged us to think about ways to bring different generations together," said Robert E. Eckardt, vice President of the Cleveland Foundation.

Interaction between old and young, bridges the gap so they can share talents and resources. It benefits us as individuals and as a community.

"There's a real energy, excitement and people really look forward to working across the generations," Eckartdt said. "What we hope is that the Successful Aging Initiative can develop many new opportunities for that interaction to take place."