The other day, I helped a blind woman see. Ok, not exactly… but I did see something for a blind woman. I have an app on my phone called ‘Be My Eyes’. It’s an app that connects blind and low vision people with sighted volunteers for visual assistance through a live video call. It was 6.30am, and I was on the crosstrainer at the gym (true story!) when I received the alert: “Someone needs your help. A blind or visually impaired person is calling for help.” I stopped my pedaling and answered the call. An American lady asked me to help her identify a package from her freezer. She was wanting to heat up a lasagne dinner, and needed to know if the packet she was holding was the correct meal. I told her that unfortunately she was holding a ‘hotpot’ and helped her identify a lasagne in her freezer. It’s a little thing, but it can make a big difference for someone else. And it sure made me feel good having started off my day with a good deed! While we often hear about people misusing technology, there are plenty of people out there, teenagers and millennials especially, who are using technology for social change. Young people are actually going out of their way to utilise technology for the betterment of humankind. Take the ‘Sit With Us’ app, designed by a teenager. It’s an app designed for young people in a school to find their friends, host lunch events and welcome new people to sit with them. ![]() Another great NZ creation, is the website ICON (In Case of Online Negativity). This was dreamed up by a founding member of the Sticks ‘n Stones youth anti bullying group. The aim was to create an online tool that would connect and inform those affected by online bullying, harassment and harm with the appropriate information, advice, tools and services. I’m sure everyone has heard about our very own ‘Student Volunteer Army’. This organisation was set up in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes and has ‘since become a multi-faceted movement with a focus on enabling New Zealanders to give back to their communities.’ Young people need mentorship over monitoring. Some need guidance more than others in thinking of ways they could leverage their technology for good; to even change the world! Having a greater purpose in using technology to achieve a goal, to serve others, to improve meaning and quality of life, can quickly take over time spent keeping up ‘streaks’ on Snapchat, or trolling on social media. Using tech for these purposes will help our young people ‘be somebody’ in a much bigger and more meaningful way than racking up ‘friend’ numbers or followers on Instagram. We need to help our young people harness their natural curiosity, ability to think imaginatively, and tendency to ask preposterous “what if…” questions for the benefit of us all. It is such an exciting time we live in, and it really is a world where if you think creatively, work effectively with others, and harness tools and capabilities for innovation, you really can make dreams come true. ~Rowan Taigel
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June 2019
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