Granny’s Going Ga-ga Over Gizmos and Gadgetry
You may not know what the kids are up to these days, but you can probably find their grandparents surfing the web or chatting it up with someone on MySpace. That’s right, Granny’s getting techno-savvy. From cell phones to the Internet, enterprising entrepreneurs have hooked a big one in the “making it easier on grandma” niche. Our elders who once balked at the idea of new technology are seeing the way it can enhance their quality of life and are taking the plunge.
Take, for instance, seventy-three year-old grandmother and heart attack survivor Paula Rice. According to an article by Stephanie Clifford in the New York Times June 1, 2009, people like Mrs. Rice are prime examples of older folks who benefit from social networks. According to the article the AARP reports three-fourths of people in their golden years live alone. There are currently studies being done to determine if online social networking can help slow dementia in the elderly, as has been speculated. Ms. Rice was locked in a prison in her own home, until she connected to a special Internet site for older people to meet each other and communicate online.
For older people who have lost most of their friends and loved ones due to death and distance, online social networking can be a sanity-saver. They are able to connect with people from around the world or around the corner without ever having to leave their home. While it is suggested that for young, able-bodied people such a lifestyle would not be healthy, for the elderly with very valid excuses for not regularly leaving their homes, being able to communicate with others in other ways is heaven-sent.
There are innovative software programs being developed to help facilitate older people having an easier time connecting to the Internet and social networking. The cliched idea as people get older they are less able to deal with “new-fangled gadgetry” is itself becoming obsolete. Clifford refers to Sunny Walker, an eighty-nine year-old retired school secretary. Ms. Walker tells how she would not use an electronic typewriter because she was such a technophobe. She now enjoys using one of the specially-designed sites for seniors to play online games and exchange messages with friends and acquaintances. Ms. Walker says the idea is great for seniors because it keeps their minds active.
The young folks better beware, their elders are learning how to go find those videos on YouTube of last Friday’s body-shots on the bar. On the bright side, older people who are cool enough to be “friending” their brand-new BFF from Sri Lanka are probably hip enough not to freak out over college-age antics. Let’s just hope we are not going to videos of grandmother’s beating each other in the street and ripping each other’s clothes off, like the young folks like to do these days.
Image credit: nixiepixel.com
It’s great seeing seniors using technology!
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