My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 75

Students recreating a scene of a mother and son buying
food at a Harkwer centre
What primary six pupils think about people aged 65 and older
The answers we got from two groups of
participants - primary six pupils and seniors - were
enlightening and suggest possible ways to address
the way in which people encounter seniors and
eldercare spaces.
For instance, participants told us that :
People in nursing homes are not part of
the community
That’s the unanimous view of the seniors. To
them, nursing home (NH) residents ‘cannot walk
like we do’ and that makes them different. To the
children, NHs are ‘sad and pitiful places’ and ‘it is
where people go to die’. Almost half of the 20 child
participants felt that people are abandoned in NHs.
Perception shapes reality
When asked to ‘walk like an older person’, most
children started slouching, slowing down and held
out imaginary walking sticks. But when asked to
judge their fellow students’ acting, some observed
that that is not quite how it is. One boy said his
grandfather does not walk slowly or hunchbacked
but quickly, confidently and in an upright posture.
Another student countered that they thought
seniors to be slow and dependent because her
mother told her that was how Grandma was like.
The pupils based their construct of a senior on what
they hear and observe in their vicinity. So for those
who have little interaction with older adults, their
perception is largely shaped by what others tell
them or want them to believe.
Another instructive feedback?
St Joseph’s
Home | | 73
73
St Joseph’s
Home