Generation gap closes with new BBC documentary

One of the BBCís newest brainchildren is "When Teenage Meet Old Age", a documentary programme in which four young volunteers spend an amount of time with people many years their senior.

It is no longer news that the British population is fast getting older, with the fastest growing age range being above 85. A rather tragic result of this trend is that the gap between the generations - especially between the oldest and the youngest - is growing.

Many older people leave their families to end their days in care homes or hospitals. They then lose all contact with the younger generations. It is little wonder that the loneliness could become so terrible that it becomes a disease.

In a Mirror.co.uk article, 25-year-old Zoe admits that she had little patience with older people before getting involved in the programme. The experience was especially moving for her because she lost her father just a year ago.

For 85-year-old Roy, meeting Zoe was also a healing experience, as he had lost his wife recently.

The value of a programme like this for the world today is that it shows how people at opposite sides of the generation gap can become best friends. Loneliness doesn't have to become a disease.

What's this?