Thoughts on the aging work force

A few months ago I was asked by one of my students how old I was and when I told her, she said you must be the oldest teacher at this school. 


I laughed and said I probably was but I still loved teaching and getting up and going to work. The next day as I was driving to work I heard the radio announcer asked "Do employers discriminate against older workers? As I was driving to work and I thought the answer is obvious to me. 


Of course they do. I cannot speak for all employers but I will speak about my experiences in education, teaching in the largest school district in BC.


The District refused from about 2002 to about 2006 give or take a few months to hire older teachers who had retired, back as Teachers on Call until the union grieved the policy as age discrimination. So for a short time after the ruling and the need for qualified Teachers on Call in areas such as Science, Math, Computers, Learning Support and English as Second Language, the district hired a few retired teachers. 


From what I understand, this change of policy by the district lasted about two years and then the freeze on hiring older workers went back into effect, the district does not discriminate, they do other things like ignoring applications by older workers, or they find other ways of discouraging older workers from working


This is part of a trend started in the US with the removal of Tenure for teachers.  "Tenure protections were created in the early 20th century to protect teachers from arbitrary or discriminatory firings based on factors such as gender, nationality or political beliefs by spelling out rules under which they could be dismissed after a probationary period. The changes are occurring as states replace virtually automatic "satisfactory" teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and base teacher layoffs on performance instead of seniority. Politically powerful teachers' unions are fighting back, arguing the changes lower morale, deny teachers due process, and unfairly target older teachers". (Source: USA Today)


The prevailing attitude in my district of administrators to older teachers appears to be"These people  are over the hill." Most of the Administrator in my district, I think, believe that younger teachers have more energy, work harder, and contribute more to their schools than older workers.  


Given the choice between an older and a younger worker, with equal qualifications the administrator would hire the younger teacher. One of the reasons is that younger teachers are more willing to do what they are told to do without queston, older teachers will question the administrators decisions.


The employer along with the government, in its latest round of bargaining is trying to strip the union of the right for teachers to be considered for transfer based on seniority, and the removal of tenure for teachers. This position is put forward because of the attitude of the admin that older teachers are not worth having on staff.


Rather than embrace the experience of the older worker, senior management and administrators in my district, at least discount and devalue their older workers.


As I have left the profession, I am sad for my colleagues who are in their late forty's and early 50's who will be coming up against the age discrimination that exists in education--at least in my district.


I suspect that the attitude of our senior management and our administrators is one shared by most employers in BC not just in education. The fact is that many older workers face challenges in staying at work, and if they are not working, they face many challenges in overcoming challenges of attitude many employers have. 


The Boomers have never shied away from fighting discrimination and bigotry, and I suspect the battle to end age discrimination will be hard fought. There are many other battles that will have to be refought, at least in Canada. With our current government, the social progress we have made over the years are being slowly dismantled as Harper tries to turn Canada back to the 40's.

How the Internet started

　

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com. 　 And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?" 　 And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?" 　 And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)." 　 Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent. To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP). 　 And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS. And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks. 　 And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others." And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to be known. He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are." 　 And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com. 　 Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE). 　 That is how it all began.  Big Al from Tennessee had nothing to do with it. Thanks to Judy and Evangeline for the above

　

　

　

　

　

　

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Interesting perspectives on those over 65

The following was written by Jennie L. Phipps 

U.S. Census Bureau sent out a host of facts and figures about people age 65 and older. Here are six of the most significant for people doing some retirement planning.

1. We're big and getting bigger. In 2010, there were 40.3 million people in the U.S. who were 65 and older, about 13 percent of the total population. By 2050, as boomers age, that number will have climbed to 88.5 million and 20 percent of the population.
2. Politicians, don't mess with boomers and old people. Seventy percent of people 65 and older and 69 percent of people 45 to 64 voted in the 2008 presidential election.
3. We ladies have to stick together. Among people 65 and older, there are 90.5 men for every 100 women. Among those 85 and older, there are 58.3 men for every 100 women.
4. Florida is the senior-citizen capital. More than 17 percent of Florida's population are older than 65, followed by 16 percent of the population of West Virginia, 15.9 percent of Maine, 15.4 percent of Pennsylvania and 14.9 percent of Iowa. The county nationwide with the highest percentage of residents older than 65 is Sumter County, Fla. (50 miles west of Orlando) with 43.4 percent.
5. We're aging fast. The fastest-growing age group in the U.S. is people ages 85 to 94, increasing in the last decade from 3.9 million to 5.1 million. The census projects that by 2050, there will be 601,000 people older than 100 in the U.S.
6. But we're not ready for retirement yet. 6.7 million people 65 and older were still in the work force in 2010. The census says that by 2018, the number will reach 11.1 million. About 57 percent of those people work full time and 42 percent are in managerial or professional positions

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Mother's love affects brain growth in babies

This is an interesting article that suggests  nuturing a child early in life may help him or her develop a larger hippocampus, the brain region important for learning, memory and stress responses.


A new study shows Brain images have now revealed that a mother’s love physically affects the volume of her child’s hippocampus. 


In the study, children of nurturing mothers had hippocampal volumes 10 percent larger than children whose mothers were not as nurturing. Research has suggested a link between a larger hippocampus and better memory.

Though 95 percent of the parents in the study were the children’s biological mothers, the researchers say that the effects of nurturing on the brain are likely to be the same for any primary caregiver. [Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents]

Women plan for retirement differently than men

The following was written by Jennie L. Phipps and posted at Bankrate.com on Sunday, January 29, 2012 and I thought it was interesting because as a man, I do not think about retirement in these ways and maybe I should.

Ameriprise Financial has been studying that truth, and it has come up with at least five ways women plan for retirement differently than men. None of them should surprise you.

1. Women want to stay close to family. Forty percent of women say proximity to family is a key factor in determining where they will retire. Only 27 percent of men think that way.
2. Women don't want to get too far away from friends, either. Only 13 percent of men say leaving friends behind would be a retirement issue that would concern them, but 21 percent of women say it's important to keep friends close by.
3. Health worries women. More than 54 percent of women are doing something specific to make sure they stay healthy in retirement, compared to 48 percent of men who have that on their agendas. Some 38 percent of women don't want to stray too far from familiar doctors and health care facilities while 32 percent of men say that's important.
4. Women let the men in their lives manage the money. The Ameriprise study found that more than half of men  -- 54 percent -- report setting aside money in their own investments compared to 46 percent of women who say they’ve done the same. That's probably part of the reason that 31 percent of men compared to 20 percent of women say they know how much money they'll need to retire.
5. Women know how to make retirement fun. More than 25 percent of women say they've spent time figuring out how they'll rest and relax in retirement, while only 19 percent of of men have given that much thought.

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