When I used to ask my father to do something for me and insisted that he “had” to do it, he would always tell me the same thing. “There are only two things in this world that I have to do – pay taxes and die.” As unrealistic as this sounds, his sarcasm helped me in my childhood to realize the importance of aging and death. They are inevitable circumstances that affect every single living being. This mindset is important in realizing the importance of Gerontology, the sociology of aging.

The field of gerontology is broadly defined as “the scientific study of the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging” (Quadagno 4). The thorough study and comprehension of gerontology is essential because it is imperative that we have a clear cut and thorough understanding of the various aspects of aging. Each various subcomponent serves equal importance in composing our full-circle understanding of the process of aging. It is a process that all living beings will eventually undergo. Though some may suffer from the “Peter Pan complex”, we will all eventually succumb to the aspects of aging. Because aging is a component of sociology that everyone will experience, it serves a vital role as an academic discipline. Structuring gerontology as an academic discipline will recruit students to gain interest in the field and encourages further research to be conducted on the processes of aging. As a result, our understanding of gerontology will continue to expand and its overall structure will grow stronger as studies continue.

Age can be defined in a variety of ways. Generally, we look at age primarily from a chronological standpoint. You are an “adult” at age 18 and a “senior citizen” at age 65. I believe that these age cohorts should be expanded to accommodate for the growing lifespan. At age 20, I do not feel like I am an “adult” yet. I am considered one on paper, but mentally I am still a student adjusting to a life of living on my own and managing my own bills. When I reach the point where I am financially stable and adapted to living independently, I will consider myself an adult. I simply believe that age 18 is too young to be considered an adult in this contemporary Society. A more realistic definition of aging is our functional age, which is “based on how people look and what they can do” (Quadagno 6). I believe this is the best method for determining age as it is the most realistic. Our subjective age identity is also important, but our functional age is important.

The sociology of aging is also extremely important in defining the various age cohorts and understanding the roles they play in our society. A statistical understanding of the cohorts is essential to defining the range of each cohort and analyzing what percentage of society these cohorts compose of. In this sense, the sociology of aging ties into numerous other fields including economics, social work, etc. Many government organizations such as Social Security and Medicare rely on these statistical analyses to determine the amount if individuals that will reach out to them for support.

There are numerous questions which challenge and motivate gerontologists to conduct further research. Will the role of Senior Citizens change as the cohort grows larger? Are these changes going to be positive or negative? Will this growing cohort have adverse affects on different aspects of society? Will the government have to restructure their monetary distribution to various departments to accommodate the increasing number of senior citizens? In turn, will this budget restructure have a negative impact on other government agencies or society in general because less funding will be available to other areas? As a result of this, will other cohorts develop a stigma to the elderly because of their “hogging” of government resources? What positive effects will the elderly cohort provide to society? How will the senior citizens of the future differ from today’s seniors? Will the traditional ideologies of racism and homophobia be replaced by the wider acceptance of minorities that contemporary society exhibits to these individuals? What other ideological differences will come forward as a result of this new generation of elders? These questions are only a small percentage of possible inquiries involving gerontology. It is obvious that there is plenty of research left to be conducted in this growing field.

Many of these research questions touch on the subject of demography, which serves a considerable function in the understanding of gerontology. Without demography, we would not truly understand the cohorts of society and where each individuals falls in the demographic rankings of our culture. The overwhelming theme of the articles is that the demographics are shifting in favor of the senior citizens. Life expectancy is increasing and as a result, the elderly population is rising with it. Numerous studies show that the elderly population will continue to rise due to the generation of baby boomers which will become senior citizens within the next decade. These two elements alone will cause the elderly population to soar. At first, our society may not know what to do with this rise in senior population. Our handling of the situation rests in the hands of the seniors and how they aged and how these new seniors plan to spend their time. Will there be a rise in nursing home residents or will independent senior communities rise? Will there be an increase in attendance at bingo games or will Pink Floyd and Van Halen reunion tours sell out around the country? It is hard to determine the impact that the rise in seniors will have on our society. We are so quick to stigmatize seniors as a burden, but the rise in seniors could potentially help our society.

These issues and more will develop more defined answers as time progresses. But for now, we can only speculate and hope for the best.