Nonne/i e nipoti: l'invecchiamento attivo come risorsa familiare e sociale nell'"epoca delle passioni tristi"

Abstract

This paper is an in-depth analysis of a recent research (already published) and it is focused on grandparents’ key role in caring the children and supporting the family. Elderly people, who have the chance to bring up their grandchildren, feel usually happier and healthier; in other words, they have the possibility to experience, in a particular way, the Active Aging that allows them to take part into social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs. Furthermore, grandparents who take care of the children are a very important resource for the family and, on the whole, for the society. Today’s grandfathers and grandmothers belong to a special generation: they are sons and daughters of 1968, of the years of “joyful fervor”, of rushes of enthusiasm, of generative utopia. Therefore, in relation to their experiences, it’s possible to affirm that they are leading figure in the education and care of the babies because they are potentially able to avoid the “unhappy passions” of our society. In conclusion, grandparents are able to transform education into a tool that allows our children to hope for a better future and a better world.