Reviews

What does older adult bullying look like?*********************************, in a 2011 article at KevinMD.com, describes one of her first experiences witnessing a bullying situation in a senior living community: The first time I witnessed older adults bullying others was at a senior center where, after a great deal of resistance from members, the age for joining the center had finally been lowered from 62 to 55 years old. Most local senior centers had already lowered their membership age years before this center. Several older members were openly rude to younger members who joined.****** describes older residents saving preferred seats in the dining room for their friends, ensuring that the new, young people were stuck with the less-desirable, leftover seating and sure to feel isolated. Other bullying behaviors common in the senior population, according to ******, include:Criticizing or ridiculing another person who does not meet the individuals accepted standards for clothing, social status, religion, sexual orientation, economic background, or virtually any other characteristic or status.Verbal or physical abuse of victims, which may include yelling, hitting, pushing, or kicking. ****** notes that in some cases, the attacker brushes these incidents off as accidental.Stealing or destroying property, and/or lying about the victim in order to assert power or authority. For instance, a bully may lie to the administration in a senior living community regarding the victims actions in order to cast the victim in a poor light.Saving seats or reserving spaces for clique members in dining rooms, restaurants, or during outings or other events. These behaviors seem innocent enough, but can actually be quite hurtful to those outside of the clique who may be isolated or left to dine alone.The fact is that we all grow up and gain some level of maturity, but we also learn that we dont have to and wont like everyone with whom we come in contact in our lives.