What would you say if you saw a 70 year old woman downhill skiing? Most people would stop and stare with their mouth hanging open. Is a skiing grandma normal to you, or does it seem impossible? Many people feel the burn of age discrimination, mostly teenagers.

Teenagers often feel that they are discriminated against more than any other age. Adults often call teenagers “shifty” or “untrustworthy” and tend to watch their behavior more closely than the behavior of other adults. For example, imagine three teenage boys walking into a gas station store, they look at the candy, then look at the magazines. Now, the whole time the store manager is watching them carefully, making sure they do not steal anything, so the kids get uncomfortable and leave without buying anything and the manager gets suspicious because they did not buy anything. Now an adult walks in and the manager does not pay him any attention, and this adult does steal something without anyone noticing. This is the most plain example of age discrimination, the manager watched the teenagers simply because they LOOKED like they would steal something and ignored the adult because he LOOKED responsible. Just because a few teenagers might steal stuff, does not mean every teenager does!

Many people also feel that police men purposely pull over teenagers more often than adults, simply because they are young and therefore “bad drivers.” In a story I read a teenage guy was followed by a police man for several miles, when he wasn't speeding. When he came up to a sharp turn he slowed down, so he could go around it safely, but when he slowed down the police man pulled him over for going under the speed limit! It's just plain mean to follow someone simply because of their age! I may not be able to drive yet, but I feel uncomfortable when I walk out into a parking lot to get something from my mom's car, people stare at me just because I am holing car keys to unlock the car. It's not like I'm gonna drive away people, and any way, it's rude to stare. Are we not raised to treat EVERYONE with respect and not discriminate, no matter what age?

Most people think these stereotypes are a natural part of life and are nothing to worry about, but why tell people they have to live up to these stereotypes when they have better things to do with their lives. We live in a world that says “Don't judge!” but very few people actually do this. When people are called “childish” or “untrustworthy” they feel put down and sometimes feel like they have to live up to these words. We need to stop and just accept people for who they are.


Works sited
BrainsANDbeauty. "Age Discrimination: Nobody Likes It to Happen to Them." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Emily Panter. "Teens Feel Age Discrimination." Corvallis Gazette Times. N.p., 15 Jan. 2002. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

WordsRUs. "Speak Up, Kid." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.