E*****Y

You are probably thinking, "E*****Y, what is that, a curse word I don't know?" Well, it's a new "curse word" that is apparently becoming unacceptable in society to use due to an increase in political correctness. So, what is this new forbidden word?

Elderly.

Gasp, I can't believe I used that word.

All kidding aside, this is actually something that is happening. As the baby boomers get older, which truly started in 2011, there are becoming more and more people at the retirement age and older. These people have become offend by the use of the terms like "elderly" or "senior" because the terms have connotations with being sad and inactive. In today's society with people having longer life spans they are more likely to stay active in their later years; so, they don't want to be associated with terms such as sad and inactive. While this is a fair point, that does not justify claiming the word "elderly" is unacceptable.

However, this point of view is gaining support as groups make changes to reflect this mindset change. For example, the American Association of Retired People officially changed their name to simply AARP as to no longer use the word retired, which can also be seen as offensive. Another change in the population has been to change companies that provide elderly care or senior care to providing in-home or companion care.

Photo By: LCCR&LCCREF

This issue of what to call people over the age of 65 years old has been discussed more and more as the media, through advertisements, politics, and other groups, have tried to figure out what to group this range of aged people as while not offending them.

One of the main reasons I think this concept is absolutely ridiculous is based on how we have always viewed the elderly. Throughout most cultures and time periods the elderly have been revered as wise and the ones at the top of society. Why should we change this now and do we even have the right to do so?

Most people have a goal in life to achieve something that allows them to leave a legacy behind and to achieve things throughout their life. Reaching retirement used to be a sign that at least some of these goals were achieved and as an "elderly member of society" you achieved some level of wisdom and status. If we remove terms like elderly and retirement, we also remove the idea of completing a goal and to some extent seeing your legacy played out.

Photo By: Patrick Doheny

An interesting concept was brought up in an article from the Telegraph about how we call older people "senior citizens" but don't refer to those under the age threshold as "junior citizens." Personally, I think this is a good. I think you should only get a title of "senior citizen" once you have reached a certain point in your life, similar to the idea of retirement and legacies. There is no reason to have a title before this point because honestly it doesn't matter you are ultimately working the goal of senior citizen where you can enjoy an easier life.

Another point brought up in the Telegraph was that 80% of older Americans have been victims of ageism, where they were assumed less capable due to their age. The explanation for this was terms like elderly, "sweet, little old ladies," and seniors all of which apparently represented the older folks as weaker.

Come on.

A term like these, that most people associate with grandparents they adore or people have already done a lot for society does not make them weak. In fact, it makes them seem stronger as younger citizens go to them for advice.

I don't understand how people can think just because the elderly are heading towards the end of their life this makes them weak. At the end of life is when people tend to fight the most.

So for once, let's stick to what the status quo has always been- call older people elderly. I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, I see it as a honor.

It is silly that, as all political correctness has a tendency to do, we have created an atmosphere in which the term elderly is apparently seen as weaker and is therefore not an okay word to use when talking about or to older people.

So, what do you think, do we need to change what we call the elderly?

Brainwashing our Children

If you have read either of my previous blog posts you know by now that I think political correctness is a waste of time. Some of you may be thinking, well I'm not always concerned about being politically correct so is this really that big of a deal? Plus, the people who worry about being politically correct are just the politicians who have to hold up to all standards, right?

Wrong.

Well then it's just college aged kids and adults trying to get jobs and secure a future without offending potential employers. when they are surrounded by people with all different backgrounds.

Wrong again.

In America, we start teaching political correctness from the day we are born. Think about it, when a little kids hears a politically incorrect word and uses it they are reprimanded and taught to never use that word again, even if they don't understand why it is a bad word. In some cases adults don't understand why the word is considered bad.

While this post is not about race a great example of teaching kids political correctness at a young age is the N-word. An ABC TV show called Blackish recently did an episode where the son, who is black, uses the N-word in elementary school and is potentially expelled from the school. In this episode the kid was confused as to why the word was bad and no one could quite explain it to him besides that it was offensive and he shouldn't be using it.

A real life example comes from my school district's elementary schools. My township back home has a Facebook page that has over 5,000 members. It acts as a public forum and one day someone went on a rant over the fact that the elementary school's were referring to Christmas trees as Holiday trees. The post sparked over a thousand comments when the average post has maybe 20 comments on a good day.

I agree with the original poster over the ridiculousness of this. At a young age, kids are still learning about different religions and cultures, including their own. So why should we remove this ability from their learning and limit what they are allowed to discuss simply because we want to be sure no one gets hurt or is offended. Guess what, that's not the real world. 

Another thing with schools is how Christmas Break/concerts/ect. must always be called Holiday or Winter Break ect. so the other religions don't feel left out. This is ridiculous. Members of the other religions know they aren't in the majority and would expect the majority to get the say in this manner.

Children are continued to be brainwashed with more secular holidays like Valentines Day or even Birthdays where everyone has to get a Valentine, birthday treat, or invitation to the party based on classroom rules. Once again, this is not how the real world works.

Schools are supposed to be preparing kids for the real world so why do we stand by and let them get softer and softer while they walk on their tippy toes to not offend someone. If this continues, kids won't be able to handle criticism or insults when they come and they are bound to come. 

Political correctness has a lot to do with how people feel. Another thing that bothers me to no end is how everyone these days has to say how they feel, or how something someone else is doing makes them feel, and what they wish they would do to stop it. You can no longer just ask someone to cut it out because you may say something offensive in the process. 

One of the reasons schools tend to be brainwashed towards political correctness is the tendency for them to be run by liberals. While there is nothing wrong with being Liberal, conservatives push their views too, I have always been taught by teachers that politics were a no go, especially in public elementary schools.

Photo By: DonkeyHotey

Come high school you are allowed to start discussing the separate parties and what you think of the different views. However in elementary school and even middle school we could never discuss politics and teachers were supposed to teach all classes without a tilt one way or another; they were supposed to be impartial. So why is it that "impartial" elementary teachers can push so hard a liberal idea of being very politically correct all the time.

I have a hard time seeing how today's youth will function in a society with obstacles and harsh realities lined with insults when we are brainwashing them to be ultra-politically correct and to share all the time how they feel. Neither of these things exist in the real world and they will be unprepared for the one thing schools are supposed to be preparing them for, the real world.