Teenagers create generation-building events

EAST COUNTY — Over the last year and a half, 15-year-old Madelyn Kumar has been making new friends — ones she prefers to call “more experienced.”

With hopes of changing perceptions of older generations and today’s youth, Kumar, with the help of nine other teenagers, decided to tackle those issues.

“(The elderly are) scared to work with technology and they said they noticed, ‘kids always on their devices,’” Kumar said, in reference to a conversation she had with senior citizen last year.

Kumar and her fellow students participate in the Manatee County chapter of the national Future Problem Solving Program. The organization offers youth in fourth through 12th grades the chance to fulfill a community need, while also learning skills such as identifying challenges, finding solutions and developing an action plan — skills they later use when presented with mock scenarios that test their abilities to think critically.

For Kumar and her teammates, who attend schools throughout the county, the unmet need involved bridging the gap between youth and the elderly.

The 10-member group must document its experiences and present its information to judges next month, for a chance to win at the state level and progress onto the international competition later this year.

Last school year’s project of working with individuals 55 and older to learn to better use computers and websites, such as Facebook, responded to what the students believe separates the generations most — the use of technology.

In August, the group decided that spending time getting to know their older neighbors would be their focus, after seeing the success the collaboration brought the students in 2013. Their technology project won them first place.

“We felt if we could organize events for both generations based on a common interest, then it had a good chance of being a good experience for both,” the team’s coach, Debra Yaryura said. “We approached a group of seniors that have a trivia night, to see if they would be open to having teenagers attend, and they were thrilled.”

Every two or three weeks, the students pick an event or activity, such as trivia nights at the University Park Country Club or playing musical instruments together, that they can participate in with a group of seniors. During each two-hour meeting, the students share stories about friends and school, while taking note of the seniors’ past experiences.

“By doing these intergenerational activities, we can learn from each other,” Kumar said.

Each student leads a certain activity and takes responsibility for when, where and how it will take place. Nolan Middle School student Benjamin Varah, 13, spearheads the trivia nights, since he lives where the event takes place.

In his second year on the team, Varah hopes spending time with the elderly — an experience he calls “rewarding, so far” — will later be reflected by the group’s presentation.

“If you’ve done something you don’t want to do, the judges can tell,” Varah said. “We actually want to do this.”

The FPS program dates back to the mid-‘70s and teaches students how to assess situations through a six-step thinking process, and how to think critically before making decisions.

As the children take Zumba classes with the seniors and learn to play bridge, the students believe the bond between the groups grows stronger.

“Teenagers are incredible people who know a lot more than just texting, and seniors have some incredible life stories and experiences to share,” Yaryura said.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].