Betty Jones plays video games with her granddaughter Ally Black.
Gaming Grannies
Hand over the joystick, Sonny. Grandma’s got game.
By Sara Francis Fujimura
Many of today’s grandmothers are better educated and more techno-savvy than their predecessors. They schedule lunch dates via cell phone, swap digital photos with grandkids a thousand miles away, and manage their mutual-fund accounts online. So it’s not surprising that these techno-grannies have taken up computerized versions of classic games like solitaire, mahjong, bridge, and canasta.
In fact, the Entertainment Software Association finds that the number of women gamers has increased steadily over the past decade. Today, 43 percent of all computer/video-game users are women. 41 percent of those who frequent online game sites like Candystand and Pogo are women.
Now that’s putting the X back in Xbox.
Grannies game for a host of reasons. Some play for entertainment or to ease loneliness; others find that computer games and video games enhance mental acuity or hand-eye coordination.
“I have arthritis in my hands, and playing computer games keeps my hands more flexible,” says Betty Jones, 69, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. “I sew a lot, so it’s important for me to keep my fingers nimble.”
“It helps me relax,” says Rea Petersen, 58, of Mesa, Arizona. Playing Spider Solitaire on the computer is her substitute for television. “It’s part of my evening routine. I finish the evening with solitaire.”
As a writer, Lana Miersen, 62, who grew up in Queens but now calls Laingsburg, Michigan, home, found gaming beneficial to her creative process.
“I’m a long-time Trekkie,” says Miersen. “I bought Outpost and Next Step: Mars to get a feel for world-building when I was thinking of writing a futuristic romance novel.”
The “Cool” Grandma
Other grandmothers find that computer/video games are a great way to connect with their cyberproficient grandchildren.
“A lot of people would probably just sit and watch TV with a grandchild,” says Ms. Petersen, who enjoys playing video games such as Mario Party and Kirby Air Ride with grandsons Christopher (14) and Jack (12). “But playing videogames is a way to really connect with my grandchildren. It’s about giving them your attention and coming into their world.”
Betty Jones and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Ally, like to morph into super sleuths when they game together. Though Ally plays other computer games with her parents, the Nancy Drew Mysteries are Ally and her grandmother’s special bonding activity.
“Some of the games are hard for me to do, but my grandma can do it,” Ally says proudly. “Plus, I make her do the spooky parts, like the graveyard scene.”
Ms. Jones’s gaming didn’t end when she returned to Oklahoma. Instead, she bought her own copy of the game they were unable to finish and, using hints from the Nancy Drew Website, completed the mystery.
“I called Ally and said: ‘I found the gold!’” says Jones who is already looking forward to their next mystery-solving caper.
Lana Miersen reconnects with her grandchildren when they come to visit by playing family-friendly games with them online. Like many gaming grannies, Miersen admits that it is she who is getting the mental and physical workout while playing against Trevor (7) and Nathan (5).
“Their eye-hand coordination is better than mine, and their reaction time is quicker, so they usually win,” says Miersen, who adds, with a self-deprecating laugh: “The little darlings do so love to run and tell everybody how they ‘crushed’ Grandma.”
Use It or Lose It
“People who stay at home watching TV are losing memory,” warns Peter Magaro, Ph.D., a cognitive psychologist and director of the Alzheimer’s Treatment and Memory Training Centers of America. “You need to get into the mental gym.”
Dr. Magaro and his colleagues frequently see people in their 50s who are concerned about memory loss and fear they have Alzheimer’s.
“I often tell my patients: ‘You don’t have Alzheimer’s, you have age. Now what are you going to do about that?’ Drug companies are making a fortune off ‘senior moments.’ Instead, seniors need to use it or lose it.”
Dr. Magaro advises his patients to make the mental gym as high a priority in their daily lives as a trip to the physical gym. Just as you work your heart to keep your body functioning at an optimum level, likewise you must work your brain.
Along with such brain-stimulating activities as taking a class, reading the daily paper, playing Bingo, and doing crossword puzzles, computer games can be a healthy part of your mental gym workout.
“Not just a game that you get on and hit the keys haphazardly, though,” says Dr. Magaro, “Look for games that relate to some type of memory or concentration.”
Want to boost your memory and win brownie points with grandkids at the same time? Dr. Magaro recommends a computerized version of the children’s classic, Concentration. Several family-friendly Websites such as PBS Kids and Hasbro’s My Little Pony offer versions of Concentration.
Just think: Daily workouts in the mental gym could reduce the number of times per week you misplace your car keys.
Brain Boot Camp
For 63-year-old Pat Reffitt of Smithfield, North Carolina, computer games aren’t just a pastime, they’re therapy. After a tough fight with cancer, a long series of chemotherapy, and a small stroke, Ms. Reffitt found she had suffered substantial memory loss.
“I used to have a good memory,” she says. “I never wrote a note in my life.”
But after 15 months of chemo, Pat Reffitt couldn’t recognize her ex-husband.
“I couldn’t even remember how to spell my last name. It is really scary when your memory goes.”
Determined not slip into a mental fog, she designed a brain boot camp workout for herself. Her regimen includes up to eight hours a day, every day, of memory-strengthening computer games. Along with lengthening her concentration, she works other areas of her brain responsible for language and reasoning. Her mental workout includes such games as Book Worm, Scrabble, Diamond Mine, Flip Board, Down the Line, Solitaire, and Morass.
“It’s been five years now, and it seems to be working,” says Reffitt. “I’m not close to where I used to be, but [my memory] is much better than [it was] after the chemo.”
Like many people who work out regularly, Reffitt finds that skipping a few days at the mental gym quickly sets her back.
“When I don’t play for a few days – like when I go out of town – it takes me a while to remember again when I get back.”
One of the best parts of her brain boot camp is its affordability. Most of the games came standard on her computer. Her son added a few more from his collection. Reffitt doesn’t play online games, so she doesn’t even have to pay a monthly Internet charge.
Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks
Though many of today’s seniors are educated and techno-savvy, some still lag behind on the technology curve. Long-distance family members often help grandma online as a cheaper form of communication, and some find e-mails and instant messaging to be a great way to connect with teen grandchildren.
“My older grandsons recently learned to play chess. They want me to learn, too, so we can play together online,” says Lana Miersen. “I’ve seen how well they play, so I’m sure I’m in for more ‘crushing’ defeats.”
The Hallmark of Battery Park City in New York City, a property of Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., advertises computers and Internet access to prospective residents. It also provides an activities assistant to help residents create e-mail accounts, learn how to surf the Web, and give pointers about how to play Free Cell and Solitaire.
“The Internet is very popular,” says Hetal Patel, director of resident services. “A good portion of our residents are highly educated. They use the Internet to continue to do research and gain knowledge.”
Residents also use the computers to stay current with local and world events by reading online newspapers.
E-mail, especially with family members, is popular.
Getting seniors on the World Wide Web seems to be something of a citywide trend these days. In December 2004, IBM donated computers and software to 32 of New York City’s senior centers. The equipment — originally donated to the Host Committee for the Republican National Convention — included specialized software that accommodates those seniors who have language or physical problems. One of the software packages automatically provides English-to-Spanish translations of Web pages. Another converts Web text to voice for those who are visually impaired.
“Our goal is to provide access to the online world to everyone — young people, senior citizens, non-English speakers, and people with disabilities,” says Stanley S. Litow, president of IBM International Foundation and vice president of IBM’s Corporate Community Relations.
IBM and the City of New York’s Department for the Aging targeted the Woodside Senior Center in Queens as one of the computer recipients.
Holly Horne, a consultant at Woodside, says that clients have been thrilled.
“They are so happy to learn something new. Nobody is really intimidated by the computers. Clients help each other or ask a staff member if they have problems.”
Clients use the computers to read online newspapers, play games, send e-mail, do online research. The computers are so popular that the center offers weekly computer classes on Tuesdays.
The X-Factor
Watch out, pimple-faced, prepubescent boys, grandmas are blasting into your world. With time on her side and no homework to drag her down, she’ll be ready for a Donkey Kong showdown next summer.
