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QCEC 2023
Winner of QCEC 2023 Silver Award
By: Wee Li Lin (2 Growth, 2023)
Category: Does Age Matter? (Senior Category)
In January 2020, the Internet witnessed another one of Donald Trump’s and Greta Thunberg’s feuds regarding the country’s plans to minimise the effects of climate change. It was during this when the former president asked the activist what her age was, mocked her and disparage her what seemed to be looking down on her because of her young age. Since then, the Internet seemed to question the extent to which age mattered. When it came to the law and how age would affect an individual in this society, some argued that age has little to no effect on a person while others argued that the role that age plays in our society is one too great to ignore. In this essay, I argue that age does matter, and in fact, plays an incredibly important role in the society we live in today.
A.I. generated picture of Donald Trump arguing with Greta Thunberg (Image: DALL·E 3 via ChatGPT)
There are opponents who claim that age does not matter due to the fact that anyone of any age, whether it be a 9-year-old or a 92-year-old, has the equal opportunity to learn and gain new experiences because of our technologically advanced and interconnected world. An example of such being the two American high school students who managed to prove the Pythagorean theorem using solely trigonometry, a feat mathematicians deemed impossible. Now thanks to the Internet, one can easily open up Google, where indescribable amounts of information are stored. Even sites such as ChatGPT can be used in order to gain more information especially as artificial intelligence (AI) grows more and more advanced. This is especially true in first-world countries where computers, smart phones, tablets are common, everyday objects, making these large amounts of information incredibly accessible to anyone who is interested in a certain field and can type into a search bar. As a result, everyone has the same chance of learning, discarding the need for attending places of higher education such as universities and colleges while also encouraging people to learn.
However, one thing remains true, and that is that older generations naturally have more experience compared to younger generations. It is only natural that someone older has more years of expertise and knowledge, compared to someone who is younger. Take the arts scene, for example. A younger artist, no matter how skilled or talented they are at art, will still be less experienced than an older artist with more experience, no matter how hard they practice or try. To be older than someone already means that you are at an advantage in terms of experience. Whether this experience is valuable or utterly obsolete, it does not matter as at the end of the day, the older generation will still possess more experience than the younger generation, which proves false the claim that everyone has equal opportunity to gain new experiences and that age does, in fact, matter.
Yet, how society treats different ages truly shows why age does matter. It is quite common for the elderly to be treated as if they are the ‘other’ person, treated as if they are a separate group compared to those who are younger than them. While this may not be intentional, it has become a root problem in our society, and has unfortunately caused feelings of isolation and loneliness. Another example of where age plays a role is in the workplace. Ageism in the workplace, while it typically affects older colleagues more, has greatly affected the younger generations as well. Nowadays, standard entry-level jobs need increasingly higher qualifications and more importantly, experience - experience that younger generations do not have. When people of the older generation, however, present these qualities, they are rejected due to them being too old or looked down upon due to their old age. Singapore and many other countries have yet to move past such blatant ageism in our workplaces and as of now, with regard to work, age does matter.
“To be older than someone already means that you are at an advantage in terms of experience.”
“For most countries, the law prohibits the jailing of minors.”
While these factors may be flexible with it only affecting people who meet a certain criteria, the law is inevitable for all. Although the aim of each law is to maintain peace and order, and in a sense, establish control, this can be said more for minors or people in the younger generation. This applies to a range of laws—from laws that regulate the age when one can smoke or drink to laws controlling the age when one can vote and drive. This very clearly demonstrates why age matters in the eye of the law. The law is also typically more lenient towards minors who commit crimes, often lightening their sentences and putting them in a Community Rehabilitation Centre instead of putting them in a jail. For most countries, the law prohibits the jailing of minors. For Singapore, specifically, minors under the age of 14 cannot be sentenced to imprisonment while those from ages 14 to 16 are more likely to be subjected to community service rather than imprisonment. However, there have been minors who have gone to jail for their crimes. An example is Aiden Fucci, a 13-year-old who was sentenced to life after brutally stabbing his classmate over 100 times. Such abnormalities are, however, uncommon, proving that the age of those being sentenced, does matter in the eyes of the law.
The belief that the brain does not fully develop until a person is 25 years old also supports the reason to as to why age matters. Multiple studies have shown that because of this, younger generations are more impressionable and easily influenced which may lead to them to picking up bad habits or committing petty crime. It is, however, thanks to this belief that the law system is more lenient and even forgiving towards younger offenders. The belief alone, nevertheless, may not completely shield young offenders from criticism from the public, it only provides potential scientific for why young people do, for lack for better word, stupid things.
In conclusion, the age of a person may affect one’s daily life and how society treats them in general - from how you are treated in your workplace to how you are judged by the law to when you can even carry out certain tasks and activities. It would be ignorant to ignore the rampant effect age has on our society and thus, I believe that age does matter.
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