New Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse

 Want to be part of the anti-ageism movement?  Go Old School. 

Since its establishment last year, Old School, an online clearinghouse of anti-ageism resources,  is picking up steam and gaining partners (Senior Planet is one), tools and a growing following.  This comprehensive source of resources means to educate everyone about age discrimination:  what it is, where it is, how to recognize it, and what to do about it.  It’s the brainchild of anti-ageism activist Ashton Applewhite (author of the anti-ageism manifesto This Chair Rocks) and millennials Ryan Backer and Kyrie Carpenter, who happily describe themselves as “olders in training.”

Ashton, a well-known advocate of fighting stereotypes and discrimination herself, launched the website last summer while she was finishing This Chair Rocks.  Following in the footsteps of Pulitzer Prize winning writer and gerontologist Dr. Robert Butler, who coined the words “ageism” and “the longevity revolution,” Applewhite set out to dispel the constant barrage of derogatory comments about getting older.  Like Backer and Carpenter, she kept seeing ageism everywhere from cheeky birthday cards about getting older, to advertising billboards and pop culture. (And it’s not just aimed at the old, they claim dubbing 20-somethings as “kids” or being “40 and irrelevant” is equally offensive.)

Old School aims to “make ageism as unacceptable as any other prejudice” and wants the pro-aging community to join the battle. The sections offer Tools, Books, Blogs and papers, Campaigns, Speakers, Videos, Organizations and Podcasts for you to read, use and share.

The most encouraging aspect of Old School is its outreach to you.  The website explains itself as “….an ongoing, interdisciplinary collaboration that will only reach its potential with help from the pro-aging community.”  It urges visitors to participate: “If you have an ageism-related resource to contribute to Old School – not about positive aging or productive aging or healthy aging or conscious aging or creative aging, but explicitly focused on ageism” they want to hear from you. Scroll down the main page to the “Submit” section.