Elders: We Want Your Back-to-School Advice

If they haven’t returned already, it’s just a few more days until all the kids are back in school.  And while families are enjoying the last few days of summer, we at The Oldish thought it might be fun to ask older friends and loved ones what their advice would be for students going to school. We invite readers to share their wisdom about education with us.

In a rapidly changing school environment, it’s easy to forget how different education was for past generations.  By opening up conversations about class size, graduation year or how far students had to walk to get to school, children and grandparents are given a great jumping-off point for an enlightening discussion. 

And while technology, social structure and competition in schools may have changed dramatically over the past several decades, many of the same challenges our grandparents faced are relatable to younger generations.  Elderly adults who remember the great depression can understand the anxiety teenagers today may feel about the economy, the environment or political policies.  And is growing up in a small town where everyone knew your business really so different from the way social media can invade the privacy of teenagers today?

We encourage families and friends gathering this holiday weekend to share a roundtable discussion about education today.  Think of one gem of advice to offer today’s youth and who knows?  Maybe Grandma will be inspired to go back to college and finish her bachelor’s degree and fulfill a life-long dream like this Ph.D. candidate who is studying how rural women are aging in Prince Edward Island.

Leave your comments, suggestions and experiences below or, if you love our Facebook community, we’ll post this article there as well for discussion. Join next week’s edition of The Oldish TV on Wednesday at 12:00 EDT over on facebook.com/theoldish and we’ll take a look at your suggestions.