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Computer fear grips many

By MICHELLE MILLER
Published April 4, 2007

Jo May knows well the fear some older folks face when it comes to a computers.

She saw it every time she got a new crop of students in the computer class she used to teach at the CARES Senior Center in Elfers.

"The first thing I used to do is take a computer keyboard, throw it on the floor and tell them, 'See, you don't have to be afraid of that.' "

May, a former computer consultant who describes herself as an "active senior," says her peers' fears are understandable: "The kids and grandkids know how to use the technology so they (seniors) think it's some big bad thing."

But once those seniors learn how to use it, May said, "They're dynamite on the computers."

And there's a big group of elder dynamite computer users out there, said May, who often sees them at the monthly Roundtable Computer Group at the South Holiday Library.

"We have people that don't have a computer as well as some that are highly technical," she said. "It's a great discussion group. We get the 'kids' who are about 50 and 60 years old, and we get the old crowd like me."

"It's good for any of the seniors that want to ask a question but are afraid to," said May, who has recently been busy setting up a Skypes Web cam so she can see her kids when she calls them through an Internet program on her computer.

"We're a friendly group," she said. "There's no cost and we only have two rules. You can't interrupt anyone, and no side conversations so everyone can hear."

Fast Facts:

Roundtable Computer Group

- Meets from 2 to 4 p.m. April 16 at the South Holiday Branch Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Road. Call Jo May at (727) 847-6814.

Get computer literate

Instructional technology and computer classes are held at Pasco County public libraries, the New Port Richey Public Library and CARES Senior Centers. For information on times and dates, contact the site of your choice.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 21:41:46]