The Old and The Young
Issue : Kotoen in the Edogawa district of Tokyo is a home for the elderly, so you might expect it to be a gloomy place. However, the people who live there are always bright and cheerful.
Arguments for, : The reason for this is the happy voices of the children who attend the point 1
Elaboration : The nursery school on the ground floor accommodates 80 pre school children aged one and a half to five or six. Kotoen, on the first and second floors, is the home for about 100 senior citizens.
Point 2 : Although many of the elderly residents live in the home by choice, they still long for family life.
Elaboration : Being in the same building allows them to visit the nursery school whenever they wish, while the children often go upstairs to play. In the morning, both old and young gather outside for exercises. Special times such as Christmas and sports days are always celebrated together.
Point 3 : “We find the children learn how to care for others by talking and being with their older co residents,” explained Maeda Takinni, the director of Kotoen.
Elaboration : “As for the elderly, through their association with the children they become more alive and their health improves.
Point 4 : Seeing these old people, many of whom we thought had forgotten how to laugh or even express their thoughts, holding the children and happily talking with them, brings home just how important an affectionate relationship between the very old and the very young can be.”
Point 5 : The success of Kotoen has created a sensation in
Elaboration : The declining number of children now being born each year has left unused space at many nursery schools.
Conclusion : It has therefore been suggested that these surplus areas are utilized by the elderly. In this way, in spite of living in small nuclear households, children can experience the advantages of close contact with people of muh older generation.
(Based on an article in The Weekend Australian, Jan 2005)
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