Agism for Dummies

Agism is a word that refers to a kind of unfair treatment of people based on their age. You know, just like how you wouldn't want someone to treat you badly because you might be taller or shorter or have a different hair color, someone might treat another person badly because they are either younger or older than them. Isn't that not fair at all? It's actually a lot like being judged based on something you have no control over, like your eye color or the color of your skin. Agism can happen to both young and old people, but it usually happens more to older people because sometimes people think they can't do things as well as younger people. But, it's important to remember that age doesn't determine a person's abilities or worth. People of all ages can be good at lots of different things!

Do you remember when you were younger, and there were things you couldn't do yet? Like riding a bike without training wheels or even reaching the cookie jar on the top shelf? Well, imagine if someone treated you differently or didn't want to play with you just because you were younger and couldn't do those things yet. That wouldn't feel nice at all, right? The same thing goes for older people. Sometimes, people might assume that older people can't learn new things or do certain activities because they are different from younger people. But that's really not true! Just like how you grew older and learned new things, older people can also learn and do lots of amazing things.

So, agism is basically when people are treated unfairly or differently because of their age. It's important for us to remember that everyone, no matter their age, has value and should be treated with respect. Remember, the way someone looks or their age doesn't define who they are or what they're capable of.