Cyber Senior, a new program that has opened up at Rancho, has students using their knowledge to help senior citizens become familiar with computers. The program takes place at the Carson Community Center over the course of eight weeks (ending in November), in which different topics are covered.

Created in 2009 by high schoolers Macaulee and Kascha Cassaday, the program came about from personal reasons. The idea came from teaching their grandparents, who lived far away at the time, how to communicate on the Internet. Later, the two girls encouraged their friends to volunteer their time in teaching others senior citizens how to use computers. After some organization and growth, the Cyber Senior has reached many schools across the nation and even other countries like Brazil.

Senior citizens are taught basic skills such as writing and organizing email and using a web browser by their teenage mentor. However, seniors aren’t all about doing work; entertaining sites such as YouTube and Facebook are also taught to the seniors in order to broaden their horizons. In reality, the Internet doesn’t have to belong solely to younger people. In addition to using the services, seniors are encouraged to go the extra mile and do things you wouldn’t expect your grandma to do, such as upload videos to their very own YouTube channel.

Students also gain much out of this experience as well. Although the participation do give service learning hours, one of the most important benefits is the experience itself.

“Helping others makes you get more involved and makes you feel good about yourself. It’s a win win situation,” said senior Maria Vallejo.

Inspiration from the program only aims to strengthen the connection that everyone has to senior citizens. Some students have even taken their knowledge back home.

“I recently started helping my Grandma learn more about technology. She’s gotten better and because of that, I think anything is possible for them (seniors),” said Senior Kacey Gonzalez.

Computers and technology in general are only going to keep on becoming more a part of our world. Nowadays, some companies require one to pay bills and do business with them completely online. This may not be a problem for younger generations, however, some seniors need help adjusting.

“It’s important for us to help because we have to make sure that our elders don’t become more distant from the world just because they don’t know how to operate a computer,” said Evan Davis, senior.

Although the sisters who created this program are out of high school, Cyber Senior continues to be a way for generations to learn from each other.