Seniors Meet Seniors

When Gunnar Eklund and Graysen Peters headed to the Senior Center last Friday to meet with members, they figured there would be a generation gap.

After all, they’re a very different type of senior: 12th graders.

But instead of trying to explain their lives to a bunch of older people, they settled into an easy conversation. Amid banter and laughter, both sides asked questions, and offered honest responses.

The Senior Center seniors surprised the Staples seniors with their knowledge of AI. The teenagers surprised the Baby Boomers and Silent Generation by not reflexively opposing the high school cellphone ban.

And when their time was up, they all stayed for another hour, chatting and listening and learning from each other.

Gunnar Eklund and Graysen Peters (standing), at the Senior Center.

The “Seniors Meet Seniors” event began with an invitation from the Center, to Steven Greenberg’s Friday morning chat group. Staples assistant principal Christine Cincotta recommended Gunnar and Graysen.

Through their activities — he’s on the debate team; she’s in Model UN; both competed nationally with Staples’ We the People class — they know how to communicate.

Still, they wondered how well they could connect with a much older group.

Yet barriers quickly fell. What they thought would be a “presentation” turned into, Gunnar says, “a Socratic seminar.”

Gunnar Eklund

The Senior Center attendees wanted to know, for example, the best way to communicate with their grandchildren. Together, they agreed that phone calls — scheduled consistently, if possible —  have much more impact than texts. Actual written letters are important too.

That resonated with the teens, They knew their own grandparents enjoyed connecting with them. But the conversation reinforced how important that is.

The men and women had heard about Staples’ cellphone ban. They were surprised — and pleased — to hear Gunnar and Graysen say they both feel more connected to others now, at lunch.

The older seniors were curious whether cursive writing is still taught. Graysen feels fortunate that her parents taught her how to sign her name; she and her friends struggle though to read cursive. Gunnar, meanwhile, learned it in a previous private school.

The Stapleites were surprised — and impressed — that the Senior Center members know a lot about artificial intelligence. Many use it.

Graysen Peters

When asked whether AI affects critical thinking, the teens offered personal perspectives.

Graysen said her teachers have taught her to use it in a good way. She knows how to fact-check. She does see some students use it as a shortcut.

Gunnar and his friends don’t really want to use it, he said; it takes away from critical thinking. He thinks many Staples teachers are too lenient about AI use.

Both explained about the technology to supposedly detect if students use artificial intelligence to write papers — and the harm that has come from false accusations.

Near the end, Gunnar asked what advice the seniors had for young people.

The main idea was simple: “Be kind!” (“Be kind on the road, too!” one joked.)

They’ve learned that being kind pays off in the long run, they told the teens.

“They said being kind makes you feel better,” Gunnar noted. “It gives you more positive experiences in life.”

Like, say, the experience of chatting about the world as it was, is, and will be one day, when today’s high school seniors are senior citizens.

Gunnar Eklund and Graysen Peters (middle row, 2nd and 4th from left), and the 2025 We the People team in Washington, DC.

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