Intergenerational programs promote active aging by Donna M. Butts, BA, and Kirnjeev Chana, BSW

Seven-year-old Ian is shown pictures of people of all generations. Friendly faces, unhappy faces, diverse faces. When asked who he could be friends with, he is as likely to point to a seven year-old as a 70 year-old. His mother reports he will run up to an older person in a wheelchair to say hello, not stare at them out of curiosity as some of his peers might. What has made Ian a boy for all ages? His family credits spending his early childhood in an intergenerational shared site that offers day care for young and old. Rather than artificially segregating people by age cohort, intergenerational programs offer an alternative view of a world that honors all ages and abilities.