Teeniors program gets teens jobs helping seniors with technology

Understanding how to deal with technology can be quite the task at any age as it is always changing. The next upgrade, it seems, is the young and old working together so that they might understand each other and the technological gap between them.

Teeniors, a pilot program in Rio Rancho, hires teens to teach senior citizens how to use phones, computers, apps and more.

Trish Lopez, who founded the program, says she is looking for teens and young adults to hire.

"Teeniors was inspired by my own mom. She's 85 now. I'm from New Mexico originally. I'm from Belen region and I had moved away for a while. When I came back as a new mom, I just remember seeing that we are growing in an increasingly digital world and older people are so left out of this — like everything from just being at the grocery store to email and texting," she said.

She says her mom, who enjoys technology like playing Words With Friends and checking out Facebook photos, often requests help with technology.

"I would be like, 'Oh man, I wish that I had a kid in the neighborhood that I could just call and pay to go over there,'" she said.

After attending a startup business event where she pitched the idea of having a business in which young people help older people, she got the idea to have teens help seniors with technology.

Part of the inspiration for Lopez's vision was the ageism she notices day to day.

"As I was getting older, you know, at this point I was 30 and I was starting to see it. I was like, 'People really?' Older people become more and more invisible. It's crazy how much they're excluded," she said.

She added that as soon as people start to show signs of age, whether it be grey hair or some manner of disability, they start to become excluded.

"I'm really very conscious about ageism because I just see it everywhere," she said.

The point of the Teeniors program is to give seniors a chance to learn the modern world without shame. Lopez says it is common for seniors to feel apprehensive about asking for help, so this program will give them courage to do so.

"There's a big shift that happens when we become a teacher of our elders. On one hand, the older adult has to accept that this person knows more, and therefore be willing to be the student. On the other hand, the younger person needs to realize that most of us, all of us, are not good teachers; we have to learn to be good teachers," she said.

The other side of the program is to give young people a job.

Teeniors offers group and one-on-one classes on how to use smartphones, computers, navigation services and more.

Lopez hopes to spread awareness about the class and "empower" seniors.

"They have been shamed by our society for not already knowing how to do this," she said.

Lopez added that all people are constantly having to relearn technology as it progresses.

"We are all in the same boat; we're all learning. It's just some of us have been learning for longer than you've been learning. So why would you know this stuff?" she said.

Her hope is that the young teachers and older students build connections.

The startup is supported by Comcast in its expansion with Xfinity network services. A free class at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 27 will cover Google Maps. There will also be an Introduction to Technology in 2024 class Sept. 17. Classes will be held at the Meadowlark Senior Center.

Learn more at teeniors.com