Grandparents Suffer in Silence

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Elder abuse is cloaked in many forms, but it becomes worse when parents and grandparents are denied a voice.

Four year-old kids have more rights than senior citizens. We see them in shopping malls throwing tantrums. Prince Williams’ kids do it all the time, and we call it cute. If it was Prince Harry’s kids, we would accuse Meghan Markle of shaming the perfect royal family.

The Queen was old, but she didn’t experience elder abuse because she had her own space in castles and mini-castles. Parents and grandparents living at home do not have that independence. That is why some of them prefer living in old age homes.

Mental abuse is when they cannot voice their opinion about their health or what they want. In some cases, it is naked fear of their grown-up kids. Mental abuse is when kids make travel arrangements for parents without asking them if they want to sit on an airplane for 20 hours, or not.

It is even worse now, because we do everything for strangers called followers. It is a showroom. It is a marketplace where we sell perception. Recently, a producer in Mumbai was seen at the airport going on holiday with his mother and kids.

His mother is in a wheelchair. Social media applauded him as a good son but how does the mother feel? Did he ask her if she wanted to board a plane? Air travel is exciting right? Not when you want to use the bathroom.

How much more for senior citizens in wheelchairs? We have a right to our lifestyles, but it is mental abuse when we impose it on ageing parents, for the photo shoot.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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