North Texas Daily

The reality is that elder abuse happens more than we would like to think. However, as much as it happens, along with anything else that makes people feel uncomfortable, it seems to become buried under all the other social problems that society faces. 

Late last month, a video surfaced on the Internet of the person’s mother hitting their grandmother. The reactions varied from feelings of outrage and confusion and support towards the young man that posted the video. The comments ranged from asking why he posted the video on social media and what social media was going to do for his grandmother. The response of some of the other comments defended his actions by saying that it was probably the only way to get attention on the subject and finally the young man that posted the video made a comment on how filing a police report would do nothing against the woman in the video that was hitting her elderly mother. Here is the follow up on this story.

This is just one of the many cases that are out there still waiting to be resolved. They happen in the place where you would least expect them to happen like senior citizen centers and nursing homes. It’s baffling to think that the place where there is expected to be top tier care for elders would be the first place where they are not safe. It is even more outrageous when there is no clear definition of the punishment abusers can face like in this story that happened at the beginning of February.

Younger generations need to be aware of how to report abuse if they know of someone that might be going through this situation. Physical abuse, emotional abuse and financial abuse are just a few examples that elders can face at the hands of abusers, according to a list put out by Greg Tsioros, an experienced criminal defense attorney. Often times, cases of elder abuse get overlooked and they should not be. Many people compare them to children who need to be taken care of and though this may not be the case for each elder, we still need to be cautious with them and treat them like we would treat any other person.

Not only should younger generations be more aware of how to help elders but honestly, they should be more involved too. Advocating for elder citizens like the young man in the first story did. Although he faced backlash and criticism for posting the video when he figured that the police were not going to be able to do much, he reached a bigger social media platform and got people to notice it and talk about it. 

There are also other ways to be involved like visiting senior citizen centers and nursing homes. From personal experience, visiting these homes is such an amazing and unique experience. Nothing is better than the reactions elders get when you go over to have a small conversation with them. The smiles it brings to their faces makes you think about how something as small as a conversation can have a big impact on their lives. We need to make sure we are protecting the elderly.

Featured Illustration: Jae-Eun Suh