What Do 15-Year-Old Students Know about Old Age?

This paper examines the knowledge and beliefs of a group of 15-year-old students regarding a variety of issues surrounding old age today. Two common assumptions are explored: firstly, that young people have an unreal and overly negative view of old age; and secondly, that the educational process, by changing such attitudes and values, may play a crucial part in how old people experience life in the future. The study suggests that students’ views, although negative, are generally balanced, realistic and caring. What they lacked were explanatory frameworks within which to investigate how the problems of age might come about. The paper concludes that, if they are not to be counter-productive, any assumptions regarding the role of education in this area need to be very carefully debated and assessed.