What shall we do according to the conversation? [br] [originaltext]F: Tom, do

F:  Tom, do you think that it is right for us to group people by age? I mean we put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes.
M: Why? Don’t people of the same ages share more things in common?
F:  But there are problems with this age-segregation experiment. Researches show that ten 14-year-olds grouped together will become competitive and mean. But ten people ages two to 80 grouped together will fall into a natural age hierarchy that teaches them all.
M: What do you think we should do? Need we reconnect the age groups?
F:  Yes. It will do good to our own mental and social health. In my opinion, we segregate the old for many reasons: prejudice, ignorance, a lack of good alternatives.
M: And I guess younger people sometimes avoid the old to evade fears of aging and dying. Death is easier to bear in the abstract. It’s much harder to watch someone we love fade before our eyes. Sometimes it’s so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.
F:  I agree with you. Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young. You can learn the art of aging. You will become more accepting, more grateful. You can understand your parents and your country’s history.
M: Hey, a teacher I know once told me she can tell which kids have good relationships with grand-parents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.
F:  That is the point. To learn from the old, we must love them -- not just in the abstract but also in the flesh -- beside us in our homes, business, churches and schools. We must work together to build the kinds of communities that allow us to care for one another.