Aging Content in Elementary and Secondary School Curriculum

Abstract Society's future is in the hands of today's youth who will be facing financial, manpower and social changes that will increase their responsibilities for the care of their parents and facing an increasing personal cost supporting health and social needs of a large retirement population. Young people must understand the impact of the aging process on their lives, on the lives of their parents, and on the society in which they live. To achieve this, policies must be developed that include the development of model programs for preparing elementary and secondary school teachers, both in prepro-fessional and continuing education programs, to teach aging content to their students. Age specific curricula must be made available, and text books that include realistic aging content at all grade levels must be provided. This article discusses these issues and describes one model program.