Huntington Beach teenager hopes to make technology less daunting for seniors
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Phoebe Jin-Ngo displayed sets of images on the screen at the Sunset Beach Community Building.
She asked the 15 or so senior citizens assembled which of the images were real, and which were created by artificial intelligence.
That’s getting to be a tough question to answer for people of any age, but many of the seniors took notes as they followed along. They also got tips on how to do certain things in the messages app on their phones.
Jin-Ngo made the presentation on July 16 as part of her TechIQ for Seniors nonprofit, which has helped more than 300 seniors since launching in the Orange County, Ojai and Santa Barbara areas.
Jin-Ngo is a Huntington Beach resident who will be a senior boarding school student at the Thacher School in Ojai.
“Growing up, my family would always ask me questions,” she said. “Grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, the same questions about technology over and over again. I was like, ‘I’m sure there are other people out there who need the same support, but don’t have that kind of opportunity.’ And then I started reaching out to senior centers to see if there was an interest. I contacted many, many different senior centers, and some of them were very excited about this opportunity and invited us, and we have had a great partnership with them since.”
There’s a certain entrepreneurial spirit in the family; Jin-Ngo’s older brother Dylan founded the Youth Investors Corp. nonprofit to help youth develop financial skills in 2019.
Phoebe Jin-Ngo’s demographic is much older than her brother’s. After her 30-minute presentation, she and another student, Marissa Stevens, went around to the seniors in the crowd to offer one-on-one assistance with specific issues.
“It’s a great idea … I really hate learning this stuff,” said Monica Brady, 76, who lives in Huntington Beach.
Brady still works for her family’s construction business, which uses software to maintain its job sites.
“My daughter does most of it, but I have to ask her for help all the time, and it’s infuriating to me,” Brady said. “So this, to me, is great … I love that she showed how when you want people to quit bothering you, you slide [the text message] to the side. I’ve been doing that though for six months.”
Jin-Ngo said that she was happy with the turnout, as this was the first time she had presented at Sunset Beach Community Building. TechIQ for Seniors has a longer relationship with Founders Village, a senior community in Fountain Valley, where she and her student volunteers will be making another presentation on Aug. 13 at 2 p.m. At that event, they plan to donate a new phone to a senior in need.
She also plans to return to Sunset Beach in August, where her next topic will be avoiding scams.
When Jin-Ngo is at school up north, she said that Oliver Cheng, an incoming senior at Sage Hill School, manages the Orange County sites.
She said it’s been a pleasant surprise that seniors have been so receptive to her technology tips.
“My grandparents, even though they hate [technology], they need to use it,” Jin-Ngo said. “They need to utilize it and contact us. A lot of my grandparents live in Korea, for example, and so I had to teach them how to use FaceTime and things like that to be able to communicate with us. Honestly, it takes two to really enhance this program, so I’m really grateful for the seniors that want to learn about this and are curious. It also makes my life easier, because I enjoy teaching people who are excited to learn about things. I think it’s really cool to see them show up and get that help.”
The students were able to help Tony Soulias, 82, of Garden Grove, fix a problem he was having with a missing video on his phone.
Soulias even recorded the instructions he was given with an app on the phone, so he’d have them in the future. He said he is not anti-technology by any stretch.
“I always appreciate the development because it makes so many positive changes in our lives and our ability to do things as we see today, and in our communications and the world of affairs, war and everything,” Soulias said. “I mean, it’s technology that’s keeping us safer today. So I really appreciate that.”
