Kids These Days....No Time for Seniors

Kids These Days....

It is often said the younger generation seems so self-absorbed that they think of only themselves and have not time for seniors in their lives.

Let me fill you in on a different point of view. The High School where my son attends has a program called Y.O.S.T.; it stands for Young and Old Stick Together. Students in their senior year are matched with a senior citizen in the community. What for you may ask? Well, the answer is just about anything. The students get to know their senior. They visit once a week, helping with household chores, looking at photo albums, and often listening to stories of their seniors life in years past.

No Time for Seniors?

The students I've know who have participated in this program not only get to know their senior citizen; they often are unwilling to break off the relationship when they graduate. Many continue to correspond during their college year, sharing the changes in their life with their senior friend, and often find time to visit them while home from college.

The Result
The program builds character in these children, gives them community involvement (essential to college applications), and opens generational doors they would not have know with out such a program.

Many communities have such programs although they may go by different names. But it seems that building connections between young and old, in a society where grandparents are not guaranteed, seems to be benefiting the young and old alike.