When ferrying emotion in old home is a problem

In recent years we see a common trend in media before every Eid. We send a reporter or two to old homes to see how our senior citizens are planning to celebrate the occasion away from their children. There is nothing wrong with that. It rather reminds us we have responsibilities towards people who live in old homes.

I only wonder whether we, the media, always do justice to these people with our reporting style. There is no doubt that life in an old home is charmless, tedious, and painful. People always love to live the final stage of their lives surrounded by their children, and grandchildren. Not everyone is lucky enough. Some people end up in old homes, though the percentage is still very low in our country.

We, with our report, sometimes create a negative perception about life in an old home. The reports give an impression that those who live in old homes mostly suffer because they failed to give their children a moral education. They are presented as failed people.

While this may be correct partially there must be other reasons too.    I can see a report, where a woman said that she had decided to live in an old home as her husband died and they had no children. I know people who live abroad prefer not to take their parents to their country of residence for they have a mechanical life there. They think their parents would stay better in an old home among contemporary people in their native country.

Without making the children a villain we should hear their side of the story. It will help us know under what circumstances they have allowed their parents to live in an old home and make others take steps to avoid similar circumstances.

Instead of looking at both sides of a coin, if we just ferry emotion with our reporting on old homes, I think it is a problem. In doing so knowingly or unknowingly we are helping a very serious problem aggravate.

According to London-based non-profit Helpage international, by 2050, Bangladesh’s population over 60 years of age will reach 36 million. It will be three times higher than the current old population of 13 million.

The life expectancy is over 72 in Bangladesh. We hope this to improve in future. In that case, we can guess our old population will only grow. Given that most young families, especially in urban areas, have now one or two children unlike their forefathers, the chance is high that a large group of these people will end up in old homes in 20 years or so. If we continue to stigmatise life in old homes, many people will avoid going there to save their children from embarrassment and suffer secretly.

(The writer is joint news editor at English-language daily New Age)