Better late than never: Youths tutor elderly in digital literacy
“From making digital payments, ordering medicines and using social media, we have learnt several things in a workshop organized by Aastha Old Age Hospital (AOAH). The youth volunteers motivated us for optimum utilization of our mobile device. They also made us aware of fraudulent calls and messages which can cost us our life’s earnings,” said Kavita Srivastava, 56.
Lucknow: Use of social media platforms, talking on Skype and doing myriad things with smart devices comes easy to the young but the older people are all at sea when confronted with such things. To bridge this digital divide, the young generation these days is playing the role of teachers, helping the elderly learn all about digital payments and use of social media platforms and making them aware of fake news and fraudulent messages. The aim is to make the lives of the senior citizens easier.
When it comes to digital literacy, the students in the new classroom set as workshops are older than their teachers. In one such workshop, Kavita Srivastava (56) and her mother Sarojini (78) learnt several ways to use their mobile phones in different ways, making their lives easier.
“From making digital payments, ordering medicines and using social media, we have learnt several things in a workshop organized by Aastha Old Age Hospital (AOAH). The youth volunteers motivated us for optimum utilization of our mobile device. They also made us aware of fraudulent calls and messages which can cost us our life’s earnings,” said Srivastava.
Similarly, Shail Tiwari (72), was taught to use Youtube along with other mobile applications by her children Mudita and Siddharth and grandson Atharva through workshops by a group ‘Motivagers Club’.
“I learnt several technological nuances about mobile applications from my children and grandson. At times, when they are busy, volunteers of the club visit me and help me out in the best possible ways,” said Tiwari.
She also recalled that once when she was stuck with a digital payment, volunteers of the club came to her rescue. “I believe anybody can teach you important things in life and learning never ends. These kids have helped me learn from scratch,” Tiwari added.
Vibha Singh, administrator of Shiv Chandra Public Inter College and her students who try visiting different places to meet elderly people often, said that when kids try teaching aspects related to digital literacy to the elderly people, they learn it with the same zeal as the young ones .
“The students try sharing their knowledge about the use of mobile phones and elderly people also learn it with similar enthusiasm. They try making them aware of the technical nuances and safe use of social media at the same time,” said Singh.
Gaurav Chhabra, who runs ‘Motivagers Club’ for elderly people, said that a WhatsApp group had been formed which served as a platform for old people to clear doubts while the volunteers help in solving them.
“Apart from the WhatsApp groups, we organize workshops for them every three months. We try creating awareness about fraudulent links, messages and calls which should be avoided while operating mobile devices. Our volunteers also provide basic knowledge about operating accounts online. Besides, we try supporting them in combating depression by being in touch with them,” shared Chhabra.
Dr Abhishek Shukla, founder of AOAH said that the focus was on social, emotional, mental, medical and spiritual well-being of the elderly people.
“Our volunteers and psychotherapists who are in an age-group of 18-25 years are actively involved with elderly people. They try counselling them about the benefits of using mobile phones and over 90% of them today are using smartphones. We also try organizing certain workshops from time to time on digital literacy along with other things,” said Shukla.