The Rites of Life: Generation Gap

By Liz Barry | Audio slideshow by Kim Raff

The computer lab is silent. All eyes are fixed on the woman at the podium.

She holds up a sleek black object.

“This,” she says, pausing dramatically, “is the infamous mouse.”



Muffled chuckles circulate the room.

“That is your monitor in front of you. That’s your window to the world.”

The screens cast an artificial glow on the faces before them, exposing their wrinkles. For most, the lines run deep.

Tonight’s group — all 50 and older — gathered at Lynchburg Public Library for a basic computer skills class, offered by Parks and Recreation’s Fifty Plus program. The instructor, Marilyn Bryant, leads a 90-minute whirlwind introduction to the computer, mouse, Microsoft Word and the Internet.

The class assumes no prior knowledge. The most commonplace phrase — like “desktop” or “icon” — begs an explanation, and the most fundamental task — like using a mouse — can pose a challenge.

Plugged in

Internet technology saturates our lives. We use it to work, play, communicate, socialize; some even use it to find love. It has spawned a new generation of young people, known as “digital natives,” for whom learning a computer is as basic as learning the ABCs.

But while the technology is ubiquitous, it is far from universal.

About 15 percent of Americans — mostly older people — are “off the network,” meaning they do not use a cell phone or the Internet, according to a 2007 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Among those who are connected, many do not embrace it in their everyday lives. Approximately 49 percent of Americans “only occasionally use modern gadgetry” and many others “bristle at electronic connectivity,” according to the study.

For the older generation, learning how to use a computer can serve as a stark reminder of how technology — like time — eventually passes us by. It can confuse or intimidate, excite or reward. However we react, there is a moment when we all must decide, how, and if, we let new technology into our lives.

The Lynchburg area offers a limited number of opportunities for seniors to learn computer technology. Yet computer literacy is becoming increasingly necessary for things like applying for a job or choosing Medicare options, says Denise Scruggs, director of the Belle Boone Beard Center on Aging and the Life Course at Lynchburg College.

“In Lynchburg right now, I think we’re not meeting the needs of our seniors as far as promoting opportunities to learn or use computer technology,” she says.

“I think we need to make that a priority.”

Classes are offered through Parks & Recreation, Central Virginia Community College and Thomas Road Baptist Church, to name a few resources. To address the area’s slim technology offerings, the Center on Aging is working on an initiative to have local college students teach computer and Internet skills to the elderly, Scruggs says.

Master of the mouse

As the basic computer skills class progresses, it becomes clear that the “infamous mouse” has lived up to its name — especially for 74-year-old Gloria Doss.

Her face is frozen in grave concentration, eyes squinted and lips pursed. She attempts to double-click on a small icon on the screen.

Nothing happens.

She clicks again.

Nothing.

Since Doss is left-handed, she has difficulty controlling the mouse, which was designed for right-handers. She changes tactics, this time executing a two-handed mouse maneuver. She guides the base of the mouse with her right hand and clicks with left.

Click-click.

The word “Excellent” flashes on the screen.

“I got excellent,” Doss exclaims with a laugh. “I did something right.”

“It takes practice, it really does,” the teacher responds.

Why not try?

Doss acquired a computer by happenstance. When her neighbors moved, they insisted she take their old computer. Doss politely declined, but her neighbors insisted.

A friend set it up, and Doss enrolled in the basic computer skills class to learn how to use it. Her goal: to learn how to navigate the Internet and e-mail family members who live out of state.

The class makes her feel frustrated and overwhelmed.

“It’s terribly confusing, but it’s just going to take time,” she says after the class.

“These little kids in kindergarten, they know how to do it, and I say ‘Doggone it!’ ... Little kids, they’re not afraid. They just jump in and do stuff. Older people sort of hold back.”

Leo Klein, 71, of Bedford signed up for a computer class to learn how to streamline his small business, Klein Welding and Machine Service.

For more than 20 years, Klein has kept track of inventory on paper tablets. When a customer requests a part, it can take him upwards of 20 minutes to check his handwritten records.

So Klein — who is already proficient with e-mail and the Internet — signed up for a basic computer class through Thomas Road Baptist Church to learn how to make a spreadsheet. The class — which was filled up to its maximum of 40 people — met weekly at the computer lab in the Liberty Christian Academy this fall. One session was devoted to Microsoft Excel.

“I don’t want to be computer illiterate. This is our life in the future,” Klein says.

John Kinter, 57, a construction worker from Lynchburg joined the Thomas Road class for personal growth. For years, his computer knowledge was virtually non-existent.

“I knew how to turn it on, and I could play solitaire. That’s it,” he says.

His wife uses a computer at home for work, but he stayed away from it for fear of messing it up. Kinter hopes the class will make him more comfortable with the computer, so he can use the Internet and e-mail without asking his wife or sons for help.

“At 57, anytime I can learn something new I’m elated ... especially if someone younger than me teaches me,” he says, “because that gives me faith in the younger generation.”

Connie and Archie Gillis call themselves “low-tech people in a high-tech world.” But compared with some of their peers, they are advanced.

The retired couple bought their first computer about five years ago and installed it in their RV. Back then, the Altavista residents were on the road full-time, touring the country.

The couple learned by trial and error, an experience that Connie says elicited a range of reactions.

“Sometimes it’s exciting. Sometimes it’s very, very frustrating.

“When you’ve never been exposed before, it’s like learning a new language, a foreign language.”

Over time, they learned how to e-mail friends, shop online and look up maps on Mapquest.com. Though they know the basics, they still have trouble with more complicated tasks, such as downloading files from e-mails, which is why they signed up for the Thomas Road class.

“Like I say,” Archie says, “we’re always looking out the door for a teenager to walk by and help us out.”

Window to the world

The last five minutes of the basic computer skills Class at the public library are devoted to the biggest topic of the night: the Internet.

“Does anyone know what Google is?” Bryant asks.

The room is quiet except for the soft hum of computer hardware.

A woman peeps up, “A search engine is what I’ve heard it called.”

“That’s right,” Bryant responds.

She pulls up the stark white Google homepage onto the overhead projector screen at the front of the room, and instructs the class to open the site on their own screens.

Bryant types the word “jellybeans.” In 0.27 seconds, a new page pops up.

“More than four million results for ‘jellybeans,’” Bryant says, with a hint of awe.

Meanwhile, Doss’ computer has gone dark with a screensaver. She leans back in her chair, arms crossed across her chest.

No Internet today. First, she must master the mouse.