Photo courtesy of Senior Source.
Shannon Miller doesn’t want to shame anyone — certainly not young mommies or elementary school teachers. She loves the idea of celebrating the 100th Day of School. But every year around this time, she cringes when she opens her social media feed.
Oh, they’re adorable, these tiny tots dressed in grey wigs and mini housecoats, bent low to push walkers or canes. There’s nothing cuter than a six-year-old pretending she hit the century mark, but how might her jet-setting, yoga-loving grandma and friends feel when they see how students are portraying the senior set?
Miller is a licensed social worker with the Senior Source. Her recent article, “The 100th Day of School: What Are We Teaching Our Children?” is turning heads.
“Would you believe me if I told you there is a man in his 100s who runs marathons? That there is a ballerina in her seventies who still dances en pointe? Fauja Singh, Suzelle Poole, and many others defy aging stereotypes all the time,” she says. “While I think it is great for kids to have a themed day to foster learning and creativity, surely the 100th day of school can be celebrated without creating a stigma around aging.”
Miller believes it’s never too early to focus on what older adults in our community can do, rather than what they cannot.
“Perhaps we can work on promoting positive outlooks on aging from a young age rather than encouraging our kids to give into certain stereotypes,” she says. “I encourage parents to advocate for other approaches to celebrating the anticipated 100th day of school milestone each year by starting conversations with their PTAs and school administrators now.”
Miller encourages moms and teachers to offer children age-positive alternatives which are just as enjoyable, including:
- Collecting 100 canned goods per class to donate to a local charity,
- Collecting 100 large print books per class to donate to a nursing home,
- Making 100 cards per class to send to a nursing home,
- Doing 100 acts of kindness for the week toward seniors, and/or
- Building a 100th day poster to honor older adults in their lives.
“I encourage parents to have conversations with their kids about aging that foster an age-positive perspective,” Miller adds. “How can you help change the conversation? An example would be to ask, ‘How lucky is your grandma/grandpa to get to live a long life and see not only their children, but their grandchildren grow up?’ If society wants to combat ageism and promote healthy outlooks on aging, then keeping ageism out of our elementary schools is a great way to start.”
The Senior Source was founded in 1961 as a resource for Dallas’ older adults and their families. Miller has a master’s from Baylor University and works to educate and protect her clients against fraud, scams and financial exploitation. You may learn more about the Senior Source here.
