Nursery World - Equality and Diversity: Part 3

Early years settings can do much to counteract the negative images and words attached to age groups in our society, but practitioners must question themselves first, says Anne O'Connor.

Bias about age can affect old and young alike, and all stages in between. But two groups of people probably experience it the most. The first, and most obvious perhaps, is the elderly. Distorted views and representations of them lead to and reinforce stereotypes.

These implicitly suggest that the physical and mental capacities of older people are inferior, because of their age. In the wider scheme of things, the institutionalised bias that results from this may be a significant factor in the way that our society often excludes older people from satisfying work and keeps many of them impoverished and viewed as useless, dependent citizens.

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