ONE of my granddaughters lives in North Carolina and although holding a degree, gets lots of reward and satisfaction from being a nursery school teacher, if apparently over-qualified for the work. In this respect she is following in her grandmother’s footsteps because my wife was a nursery school teacher for many years, specialising in teaching and caring for children with special needs.

A few days ago, a heartwarming post on Facebook was made by my American granddaughter. She related an often repeated episode in the school’s life when the teachers take some of the children, with ages as young as two, on visits to the retirement community sited close by. The kids really enjoy relating to the old folks and mixing in with them in a very cordial way that brightens the lives of the pensioners.

It is a delightful win-win situation with both the very young and those in the twilight of their lives deriving great enjoyment from being in each other’s company. My granddaughter reports how proud she is of the way the children spontaneously respond to the friendly welcome of the elderly folk.

Sadly, overshadowing this type of linking of the old with the young is the spectre of paedophilia. Hardly a day passes without the news informing us of another case of a paedophile being brought to justice. It has to be recognised that there are adults about that seek the company of children for evil purposes.

However, with child protection safeguards in place, I can see no reason why what is happening in North Carolina should not be repeated throughout the world. Indeed, I know of other examples of it happening from personal experience.

In the 1980s, following an international study I undertook, a series of exchange visits was set up between Uppsala Fire Brigade in Sweden and Wiltshire Fire Brigade and great benefit was derived from these over six years without financial support being necessary from the tax payers in either country.

The primary purpose of the exchanges was to learn from each other about fire fighting and fire prevention, which we did to great benefit.

However, one doesn’t carry out such studies with blinkered eyes and my wife and I were very interested to see how, in Uppsala, nursery schools for toddlers were deliberately sited adjacent to care homes for the elderly with a communal garden between the buildings. This facilitated the children and the old folks sharing time together regularly and we could see it was a great success.

Of course, I am not so naive as to ignore the fact that some old folks detest children and spurn their company. Some hotel groups take pride in advertising holidays that ensure that children are banned from their premises and guests can be sure of a toddler-free break. Those in their twilight years value their peace and quiet and the presence of children is therefore not always welcome or appropriate.

However, in contrast to the bans applied to children mixing with the elderly, I know of some care homes in this area that plan activities for their residents that involve children and young people being invited into the care home to entertain the residents and socialise with them. One home even recently organised a parade and display by Army Cadets in the forecourt of the home.

My experience teaches me that there is benefit in many ways from bringing the old and the young together rather than keeping both groups of the population in isolation from each other for long periods.