An Opportunity Awaits Us

Our Future Generation

Seniors Should Be Given An Opportunity To Contribute To Our Childrens' Learning

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the role in our community that our elderly citizens can assume in making our city a much richer, vibrant and educated place to live and grow. I, nor they, will be around for a lengthy period so I make this proposal with that truth in mind.

From my vantage point, and I would venture to say the vantage point of a significant number of other like-minded citizens, there are many elderly people sitting idle in residential or nursing homes, or who live alone in apartments, who could assume a vital role in our education system. Some still have a partner; others are single.

Before dismissing my proposal altogether, please allow me to point out what I believe to be a few major benefits to all parties involved.

I believe the majority of us would agree that our elderly citizens, regardless of their educational backgrounds, have been around the block a few times. Let me put what I have just written in other words. They have amassed real-life experience and learned many things by the time they reach 60 to 65 years of age or older. They have witnessed and experienced first-hand many things which are being taught (using theoretical examples from text books) within our educational systems.

Let me be entirely clear. I am not knocking theoretical learning nor am I putting down our educational system in any way, shape or form. I am only trying to complement what already exists or is in place.

We have heard the term “school of hard knocks,” which is another way of expressing how some of us have learned by repeated error and failure. But once we do learn, the lesson is seared within our memory for the rest of our lives. Well, many of our senior citizens have been through the school of hard knocks, and the majority came out tried, tested and true, many of them still black and blue, however wiser for the experience.

Many are walking, living, breathing encyclopedias of information, searching for some purpose to fill in the years they have left on this earth. Allow me to use a metaphor to highlight their situation. It is as though they were a fleet of high-powered sports cars with engines equipped with over 500 horse power, but do not have the keys to start and drive them.

So the million dollar questions many will ask. What's in it for them and what's in it for students? And, how much will this cost taxpayers?

For Elderly Citizens

For one, they would have the satisfaction in knowing they have a say in the future and legacy of our country and this city...investors in something more important than stocks and bonds. Furthermore, they would have a purpose in life, something many do not have at this time. This factor alone could improve their overall mental and physical health. And, if it were deemed appropriate, those with very low annual incomes, could make a few extra dollars to supplement their monthly pensions. This additional income could make a difference in what they eat, how much they eat, what types of prescriptions they can now afford, determine whether they can afford to could go out once every two weeks to a movie or some other entertainment venue? Or, maybe they could move to an apartment which is larger and perhaps a safer district. By this I mean that because they live on such a low monthly income, those who do not live in retirement residences or nursing homes are forced to live in dwellings that are frequented by people who may be involved in crime. I know this is true because this is the situation my mother-in-law is faced with. When one figures in rent, cable, Internet, phone and utility bills such as gas or hydro, then add the cost of feeding one's self and getting around either by bus or car (includes gas and repairs), an elderly single person is left with maybe one or two hundred dollars for other things like clothing, prescriptions and gifts for family members. So, if they earned minimum wage for 15 hours per week, that would amount to $660 per month, which would make a considerable difference in their quality of life.

For Our Children

It has been proven through many studies, that story telling is one of the best methods of learning and retention of learning. Imagine the stories (all true and backed up with photos or other historical artifacts) that could be told. Children could actually actively converse with “history.” Imagine the child returning home after school and recounting to his/her parents what they learned in school today by way of these senior citizens. Many of these children may not have a senior person to look up to for advice. These people could fill that void.

How much would this proposal cost the citizens of Ottawa?

The answer could be nothing for those who are doing well financially. Or it could be could be $660 per month for each elderly citizen who is described in my example above. Other pay rates could be worked out on a sliding scale based on monthly income. Again, we need not go into the specifics of how much this would cost citizens, but suffice it to say that the return on investment to our senior citizens, our children, and you and I, the citizens of Ottawa, would greatly outweigh any potential cons.

In addition, imagine the message and publicity we would be sending to other cities in Canada if we were to be the pioneers of such a program, especially if it were successful, which of course it would be.

If you deem this proposal worthy of further consideration and discussion, obviously this would take place at your discretion and according to your workload, priorities and timetables.

What would they teach to students?

The one thing they would not teach is anything that goes against the grain of the school board's established curriculum. I see them teaching life skills. For example, when one looks at job posters, there are usually a number of Knowledge, Abilities and Personal Suitability qualifications that prospective employers will be asking candidates to possess. You will likely respond with the fact that these children will not enter the job market for perhaps another ten to fifteen years. But here's the pitch. How better to prepare them in advance by providing them with real-life stories and situations in which senior citizens describe and/or demonstrate specific personal attributes they used to deal with difficult or challenging situations. Attributes like leadership, patience, teamwork, effective interpersonal relationships, reliability, initiative and so on cannot be taught theoretically. That's where are senior citizens come in. This is what they would teach.

What is the age range of the students they would be speaking to or teaching informally? I would hazard a guess of between the ages of 4 and 12. But the ages could be lower or higher, give or take a few years? Again, we do not need to get into specifics at this time.

Would each school board and/or each school within each school board be obliged to hire or take on these senior citizens? The simple answer is no. The program would be voluntary and each school board and/or school within these school boards would decide if and when senior citizens would come to their school gymnasiums or classrooms (I prefer the latter) to teach students.

Would senior citizens go to schools on their own (individually) or in groups of two, three or more ? Again, this would be at the discretion of the school board and/or school. Personally, I think there is strength in numbers, and it would take stress off some senior citizens if they knew they were not alone in front of the classroom. As for transportation to and from schools, this is an issue for some and we would deal with them on a case by case basis.

Would there be a screening process and sensitization classes which senior citizens who desire to teach children would need to go through? The simple answer is yes. There should be minimal standards, but not so stringent as to disqualify senior citizens who possess important information and life experience. For example, the fact that a senior citizen does not possess a post secondary diploma or degree or a high school diploma for that matter should not be a show stopper. Nor should age be one if the senior citizen is able to speak with intelligible words and in a coherent manner. I've personally had the opportunity to speak with senior citizens who are in their nineties and one who was 102. All of these people were as sharp as a whip and able to hold their own in a conversation on various subjects. I learned a lot from them, and as I wrote earlier, I am 62 years of age. So, if I could learn from them, then so could younger children.

As I have already mentioned, there are other details which would need fine tuning and ironing out, but these could be discussed by a committee responsible for overseeing the teaching, remuneration and logistics involved with this proposal.

Here are a few figures I was able to glean from the Internet for the 2011 Census, as data from the recent 2016 Census is still being compiled by Statistics Canada.

Canada

• The number of seniors aged 65 and over increased 14.1% between 2006 and 2011 to nearly 5 million. This rate of growth was higher than that of children aged 14 and under (0.5%) and people aged 15 to 64 (5.7%).
• Seniors accounted for a record high of 14.8% of the population in Canada in 2011, up from 13.7% five years earlier. I can only see this number climbing as the number of baby boomers retiring from their respective jobs are increasing each day.
• The 2011 Census counted 4,945,060 people aged 65 and older in Canada, an increase of more than 609,810, or 14.1%, between 2006 and 2011. This rate of growth was more than double the 5.9% increase for the Canadian population as a whole.
• The 60 to 64 year old group experienced the fastest increase, at 29.1%. This suggests that population aging will accelerate in Canada in the coming years, as the large baby boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1965, reaches 65 years old. The first baby boomers reached 65 years old in 2011.
• In comparison, the number of children aged 14 and under increased by 27,505, or 0.5%, to 5,607,345.
• The population of children aged 4 and under increased 11.0% between 2006 and 2011. This was the result of slightly higher fertility level and an increase in the number of women aged between 20 and 34 during that period.

Ottawa (Capital City of Canada)

• In 2011, the population of the city of Ottawa was 883,391, an 8.8% increase from 2006. The population of the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Ottawa was 1,215,735.
• Youths under 15 years of age comprised 18.9% of the total population, while those of retirement age (65 years and older) comprised 11.4%.
• According to the 2011census, Ottawa has more formally educated citizens than any other city in Canada. It is also home to a number of post-secondary, research, and cultural institutions, including the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery.

What have we to lose, I say? Our future generations can only benefit from this or a similar program.