‘This is beautiful;’ Teens help local seniors with cybersecurity, technology

SPRINGFIELD — High school students are helping seniors with their technology.

Cybersecurity students at the Clark County Career Technical Center visited the Springfield Masonic Community.

They shared advice on how to avoid online crimes.

“I love all students, but I love these kids,” Betty Jane Gardner said.

Gardner, a retired teacher, had an idea — bring in students from the Clark County Career Technical Center to teach Springfield Masonic Community seniors cyber security.

“They get service learning hours, and we get help for stuff we don’t understand. And it’s a win-win situation where you can’t lose with this,” Gardner said.

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Students give a presentation on all sorts of cyber security issues, from creating strong passwords to avoiding online scams.

“That’s really important because being safe while you’re on the internet it’s not an easy thing to do,” Zach Sweareingen, a senior at Tecumseh High School said.

Sweareingen is one of the dozen students who came to help teach the seniors.

Seniors came ready with tablets, cell phones, laptops, and lists full of questions.

“It is a great thing that we are able to help them because they can’t always rely on other people because some people to try to scam them,” Sweareingen said.

It helps high school students gain experience while helping seniors navigate their tech.

According to the FBI, people 60 years or older lost more than $3 billion in 2022 due to internet crimes.

Something Sweareingen, who wants to work for the FBI one day, doesn’t want to see happen.

“This is beautiful,” Gardner said.

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