Peres: Teach the very young respect for the elderly

“When the public calls for social justice, it protests to the government,” Peres says.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Peres with "Ben Gurion" 370 (photo credit: Mark Neiman/GPO)
Peres with "Ben Gurion" 370
(photo credit: Mark Neiman/GPO)
Media reports about the lack of sensitivity in dealing with senior citizens prompted The Jerusalem Post to ask President Shimon Peres – a very active almost 90, about how to solve the problem.
Peres said that it was a matter of education from the earliest possible age. Children have to be educated to respect human dignity, he said.
“When the public calls for social justice, it protests to the government,” he said.
The government was responsible for the economy, Peres said, but not for the way that people treated each other. That was the responsibility of society itself and was another form of social justice.
Peres was unaware until told by a Post reporter that elderly people are often left standing in buses, trains and the light rail system, almost falling over with every lurch.
He was appalled by the information, and again pointed out that the root of the problem was education.