I
did wonder whether to model this piece on Shakespeare’s brilliant
thumb-nail sketch of the Seven Ages of Man, but as Jaques talked only
about men, it would not have been politically correct. What I want
to write about affects men, women and children.
I
was asked the other day by my grandchildren which the main pop groups
were in the charts when I was a teen-ager, and it struck me that the
pop culture was only just beginning in those days. Before then, teenagers
did not really see themselves as a significant separate group, with
its own culture and its own stars. Teen culture is a phenomenon of
the last fifty years.
Then
I began to think of the ever-growing numbers of older people, the
impact of grey power at the ballot box and the increasing number of
dependent older people needing care. The Queen is sending out record
numbers of telegrams to celebrate 100th birthdays. The numbers in
the workforce in the United Kingdom meanwhile may drop, unless there
is significant immigration, and it is this diminishing workforce to
whom the growing numbers of older people are turning for care and
help.
But
people are not only living longer. They are fitter longer as well.
I recall people who were worn out by physical exertion and appalling
working conditions who were in their fifties when I was young. Now,
people are fit and enjoying all sorts of activities into their seventies
and eighties.
Things have certainly changed since my youth, but what pattern will
emerge from all these changes? I’m flying a kite that we should
look at life in four phases, each of twenty-five years, broadly matching
generations. The first covers early childhood, schooling and university
and is essentially developmental. The second covers the main working
period, including the gaining of experience and promotion. The third
covers a period not really known to Shakespeare, when people are experienced,
still fit and capable and enjoying second careers. The fourth is old
age, ending up, as with Shakespeare, when we are “sans everything”.
In
parallel with the coming of the pop culture, we have seen increasing
separation of the generations. Young people are schooled in massive
comprehensives. Teenagers and young adults go clubbing, away from
children and older adults. If you visit many major cities, you will
see people aged from their 20s to 50s in the city centres, but few
children or old people. Older people, meanwhile, are grouped together
to live in sheltered housing complexes or special retirement estates.
We are stratified and grouped by age, sometimes by choice, sometimes
by social convention, and sometimes by law or the systems and services
of the state.
One
outcome is a distancing between different age groups, which results
in treating other groups as something different, perhaps to be criticised,
rejected or feared. Stratifying the community by age groups is not
natural. It leads to misunderstandings and prevents the sharing of
information, wisdom about life and support in the face of crisis.
Perhaps
it is time to go back to a more natural community mix. For most of
history, social groupings have consisted of people from all generations
(though perhaps with relatively few very old people). If people work
from home more, using new technology, they need not go off to work
places where they huddle with their peer group in offices. If new
technology is used, perhaps children can be taught in smaller groups
nearer their homes, where their families can participate more and
share life-long learning.
It
may be that the third phase of life I described above will give us
the chance to rebuild some of these bridges. If the community is to
function effectively, it will need these people to be active and not
simply enjoying perpetual holiday following early retirement. If they
are to find their lives worthwhile, they will need significant roles
to play. Surely there is a lot they could do for children and young
people, as classroom assistants, providing leisure opportunities,
offering individual attention for slow learners and devising individual
programmes for disaffected young people or offenders.
This
column is not as poetic as Shakespeare’s Seven Ages, but we
face major difficulties if we do not address the demographic problems
I’ve touched on. I don’t expect Hoon’s Four Phases
to be remembered in four hundred years’ time, but I do hope
the ideas scattered in this column may trigger a few thoughts, and
that we think hard about the options facing us, and the scope they
offer to give children a better deal.
