For most children, toilet training is taught before the age of three, and rarely, if ever, reviewed after that point. So it comes as no surprise to me that, by age 21 or so, a growing percentage of people have forgotten the basic lessons about proper toileting that they were originally taught.
By
age 80, the problem has often grown pathological. Some elderly people (and I don't mean senile ones; I am talking about healthy old people) are unaware of some of the toileting problems they may be causing. They may leave markings on the toilet seat due to inability to see them, or grab a hand towel and use that for wiping instead of toilet tissue, then replace it on the rack.
Peeing on the toilet seat, not flushing a faecal deposit, and leaving used toilet paper all over the place are not acceptable for a 3-year-old child, so why should they be for an adult? Yet these behaviors occur constantly, in restaurants and workplaces all over the country. Society should step in and require a refresher course for everybody (or maybe one at age 18 and another at 65) that will reassure us that pee and other waste are not poison; that it is both possible and healthy to clean up after yourself, and that you aren't weird or abnormal for doing so.
Basic tips for cleanliness and odor avoidance will also be covered. Elderly people will learn specialized topics about how to wipe off the toilet seat even if they don't "see" anything there, and about the health hazards associated with not cleaning up properly.
*Again, only a few of the attendees may need to refresh the information in these courses. But making the topic a concern to everyone is fairer and will go further towards encouraging those people who do need help to improve.
In some ways this resembles sex education - it is an awkward topic to discuss, but I feel society will be cleaner and safer if the discussion is encouraged.