E-mail Keeps People in Touch With Family and Friends

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Move over paper and pen. Your days of romantic letters, beautiful stationary, and long rides in the mail truck are nearing the end. As usual in our technologydriven world, convenience and haste are taking over.

While some say the loss of our old-fashioned ways of communication is a true tragedy, others say it may not be such a bad thing.

According to an ongoing study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, over half of older adults who use e-mail say it makes staying in touch with family and friends much easier. And about a third say they consider e-mail so important they wouldn’t want to live without it.

“I think older people use e-mail much more frequently than other means of communication to keep in contact with family and friends, primarily grandchildren,” says Mike Tayyabkhan, who lives at Seabrook and has worked in the computer industry for over 50 years.

Bridging the Gap
Tayyabkhan offers his expertise at the Computer Club at Seabrook, a group of people who help each other become more educated and familiar with computer issues.

“We exchange problems and ideas. One of the other members of the club almost always resolves another person’s question,” says Bernie Aronowitz, the club’s founder.

The club does not actually work on computers when they meet, but Seabrook offers three different computer education courses in the larger of its two computer labs. One of the classes is even open to the public through the SCAN Learning Center, a non-profit organization providing a wide range of educational opportunities for older adults in Monmouth and surrounding counties.

Frank Remski teaches the SCAN course, which focuses on basics. “In my class, they learn the basics of getting around on the computer, creating documents, and using the Internet and Erickson Touchtown portal,” he says.