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We were all taught growing
up that stereotyping is wrong. Whether by race, by religion, by culture,
by gender, or otherwise, we were always taught to treat everyone the same.
And yet, many of us do not. Many of us continue to stereotype on the basis
of all of these things, for no reason at all. Today, as a teenager, I have
begun to notice a new type of stereotyping, also for no reason whatsoever.
The stereotype? Age.
Ageism is not secret; most
of us participate in it. Whether it’s assuming senior citizens can’t
drive, or the same for teenagers, ageism is yet another form of bias.
It may not be something
that you were taught as a child, with other stereotypes rightfully taking
priority. It’s definitely not something that gets or for that matter
deserves national attention, but there’s no question it exists and should
be recognized regardless.
Let’s face it; most of us
assume teenagers are bad drivers. Perhaps that’s statistically proven, but
regardless, it seems unfair to assume all teenagers are bad
drivers. Just as we should not assume all people of Arab descent are
Muslim, we should not simply assume this. Though either one may be true
in some cases, it is certainly not the majority of times we encounter
these problems. Just as there are European Muslims, there are other
people outside of teenagers who are bad drivers.
Another thing I’ve noticed
lately: teenagers don’t seem to have earned the right to be served. Ever.
Especially in restaurants, adults seem to take priority over teenagers.
Everyone pays the same price, doesn’t everyone deserve the right to the
same service?
Who ever came up with the
idea that it was wrong for teenagers to spend money? Whenever I buy
something, I feel like other adults in the store are eyeing me. Maybe I’m
wrong, but whenever I buy anything from a magazine to a bottle of water, I
can almost feel the eyes on the back of my neck. Perhaps it’s the
assumption that teenagers cheat all their money of their parents that
drives this prejudice. That’s simply not true, in fact, only 37% of the
money teenagers earn come from their parents.
All this money is not going
into piggy banks. According to Jupiter Research, a marketing and
statistics analysis firm, teenage spending has more than doubled in the
past few years, despite lagging reports on the rest of the U.S. economy.
Maybe I’m mistaken, but
this bias seems equally as unfair as other prejudices today. For one, it’s
unfounded. Most teenagers are not criminals, most do not get in car
accidents on a regular basis, most contribute a lot of money to our
economy, and most earn most of that money themselves. That’s a lot of
mosts, and seemingly enough to prove that ageism against teenagers is
wrong.
Sources: Census Bureau, Jupiter Research |
