According to the American Psychological Association (APA) discrimination should be defined as the “unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. On their website, the APA calls discrimination a “public health issue” that is linked to “anxiety, depression, obesity, high blood pressure and substance abuse.”
Sadly, the United States has a serious age discrimination problem. This problem presents itself in many ways, including:
- youths having reduced civic rights (e.g. an inability to vote or hold elected office)
- reduced medical freedoms (e.g. coerced procedures and medication)
- the lack of choices youths have in regards to schooling & their education
- curfew laws
- the drinking & smoking age
- complete lack of contractual capacity, denying them the use of everyday services and products that most take for granted
- censorship based on age
- discrimination based on age by private institutions (e.g. store bans)
- their work heavily restricted in hours and type or completely prohibited if they fall under an arbitrary age limit, and often receiving lower pay (even a youth minimum wage of $4.25/hr exists)
- reduced or no mobility due to driving age laws and no real alternatives to driving present
At the NYRA we stand against discrimination and actively work against ageism in all facets of society. To end age-based discrimination, we must work against the prejudicial treatment of people based on the date of their birth.
