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Geezer Squad aims computer training at older demographic
Vincent Milito, 78, a retired veteran Arnold police sergeant, receiving guidance by "Frank" Stiner.
Gail Bowser had had just about enough.
Finally giving in to the pleas of her two daughters in Texas to buy a computer late last summer, the Winfield resident and Fawn native wasn't convinced that her attempt to enter the cyber world at age 72 was a wise one.
Nothing at Har-Brack High School back in the 1950s had prepared her for this moment. Confusion reigned when she opened her laptop for the first time. She was so frustrated, she says, "I wanted to beat it with a sledgehammer."
In New Kensington, Vincent Milito, 78, a retired veteran Arnold police sergeant, wasn't contemplating equipment destruction, but he was wondering to himself whether he had "thrown money out into the street" with the under-used computer he had been mostly ignoring.
Although she had been using a computer for 21 years, Joan Huber, 79, of Indiana Township, a writing coach, editor, writer and retired English professor, felt she needed to upgrade her skills.
Who are they going to call?
For Bowser, Milito and Huber, it was Plum resident Franklin "Frank" Stiner, founder of The Geezer Squad.
His new basic-computer-training company, offering house calls and plenty of patience, caters to helping middle-age and senior citizens overcome their fear and learn to embrace computers.
"I saw a need from people 40 years and older to learn these basic skills to keep up with the world today," says Stiner, who is in his early 60s and retired after 28 years in the auto industry. "A lot of people grew up in an age without a computer in their job or everyday life. Now they are realizing that they have to use the computer in today's world for employment, information and communication."
His website promises that "our seasoned 50-year-old plus instructors have the patience to teach you, and we will always be respectful and patient."
While Stiner currently is a one-man operation, as his business grows, he plans to hire fellow seniors — thus, the name, The Geezer Squad.
"It makes people feel more comfortable dealing with someone their own age rather than a computer Geek that seems to speak a different language," he says.
Gail Bowser, now happily keeping in touch with her family via e-mail and — her greatest joy — getting to see and talk to her new granddaughter via her computer's webcam and the free Skype service, agrees.
"I think a senior understands the confusion we feel. We graduated in the '50s and didn't have a clue what a computer was. Frank is so patient and willing to teach me," she says. "It's more important to be patient with seniors, because we have been out of school for a long time and our concentration is not what it is of a young person or a 20-year old."
Milito, who is gaining confidence in computer use under Stiner's tutelage, says, jokingly, he has discovered a world of information using Google, and senior citizens "can get on people's nerves sometimes."
Stiner, who teaches the "I Have a Computer ... Now What?" course for senior citizens at Community College of Allegheny County, Boyce Campus, and classes at other locations, takes a classroom approach when he visits homes.
"He's an excellent teacher," Bowser says. "He made me write everything down he told me from the beginning and keep it in a folder so that anytime I forget or have a problem, I go to the folder and start over again." She was perplexed, she admits, when, on one occasion, she tried unsuccessfully to turn on her computer, then discovered her dog had pulled out a plug.
Stiner says one client was afraid to open the box containing the computer.
"A lot of misunderstanding for seniors is that they think it's overwhelming and there are too many things to learn," he says. "They always ask if they are going to break it if they do something wrong. They need to understand that there are a lot of aspects of a computer, and they only need to learn the parts they need to use, which turns out to be very simple basics."
After they become comfortable with the basics, he says, they build their confidence and explore what else the computer can offer. Communication with family and friends seems to be most important at first, Stiner says, "because of the family pressuring them into setting it up."
Sometimes, it takes that pressure to encourage a senior to take the first step, he says. "Once they open their minds and see how the computer can enrich their lives, what information is available to them, they start to explore the Internet, and they say they should have done this 10 years ago."
Milito is an example.
"You can't look at TV 24 hours a day. The only thing you learn from TV is how to get tired and get ready for bed," says Milito, who likes to e-mail his five sons, share jokes with them and broaden his knowledge of the world. "I don't like feeling like I'm a dunce in certain issues. I need to be caught up on some things, " he says. "I don't want to let the world go by me without knowing what the heck happened."
A computer search is like the library or an encyclopedia, Huber says. "Learning one thing leads to another and another," she says. The teacher is fond of exploring news programs of the BBC "and other international sources not controlled by the sponsors."
To a hearing-impaired senior, a computer is a godsend, she adds. "You also can write more with a computer than by hand, and you won't tie someone up as you do with a phone call."
The possibilities are endless, adds Stiner, who hopes senior centers want to host his group classes. Being able to introduce people to those experiences and enrich their lives is what satisfies him the most. "With this new knowledge, they have made their lives more productive," he says.
As far as Bowser is concerned, just being able to see and hear her granddaughter say, "Hi Nanna," from Texas made getting involved worthwhile. "It's just amazing," she says. Along the way, she found a doctor with a Google search, located an address with another, learned more about horses — which she loves — and hopes to reconnect with a friend she last saw 47 years ago.
She encourages other seniors to be open-minded. "You're never too old to learn," she says, "There's a woman up the road Frank was teaching who is 84," she says.
Huber reminds that the ancient Roman statesman Cato began studying Greek at age 80. "The brain is like muscle," the teacher says: "Use it or lose it."
Rex Rutkoski, TribLive Reporter
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