The Digital Dive in The The Twenty First Century by Milo Straghalis

The Digital Divide in The Twenty First Century

By Milo Straghalis

Two kids, 12 and 11 stand outside their school in the afternoon hunching over their phones. Why? they don’t have home internet. Most of their homework these days is on the internet, but they can’t access it at their house so they have to find free internet hotspots and hope that the connection is in their favor. The Digital Divide has been going on for at least twenty years now, but it is more noticeable and effective then ever here in the Twenty First century. With everyone using their phones, the internet, and technology in general it’s impossible to walk a block without seeing someone on technology. Those who don’t have the technology they need to survive, they’ll quickly be left behind in a digital dust.

We use a lot of technology in our world one of the biggest places we are using technology more and more is in the classroom, but if kids are told to do homework that requires technology that they don’t have at home they will struggle greatly. We should start providing technology to homes that don’t have the resources to have it for their kids sake at least. And it’s not happening to a little amount, it’s a big amount. In an article from the New York Times by Cecila Kang she is talking about how a family’s kids are dealing with online homework when they don’t have internet at home. The article states “Ms. Rosenworcel cited research showing that seven in 10 teachers now assign homework that requires web access. Yet one-third of kindergartners through 12th graders in the United States, from low-income and rural households, are unable to go online from home.” (New York Times).This shows how there is a pretty big amount of kids dealing with the digital divide. If this number keeps growing, which it will if don’t put an end to the digital divide a large amount of students will be quickly left behind.

While it’s clear that we should give technology and internet to people who can’t afford it some people might argue that if we wind up giving people the internet they will get addicted and wind up glued to the internet and the technology. For example, Kentaro Toyama from The Atlantic says, “Wherever Facebook is used, people get hooked. Hooked, like on tobacco or crack cocaine.” (The Atlantic). However, this is a faulty assumption because not everyone uses social media, most people would just use their technology for more practical uses.

My second argument for why we should provide for technology for everyone is that now pretty much all of the job offers are online, and people who don’t have jobs and are looking for ones will struggle to survive and support their potential family. An article by Claire Cain Miller is talking about how phones have helped people who are homeless get back at their lives. The text says,  “People don’t put out ‘for rent’ signs anymore, so the Internet is the best way,” Ms. Leonard said. “You can’t even go get a paper application for a lot of things. You can’t get a job unless you get online.” (The Upshot). This quote confirms that these days it is very hard to get a job without finding out about it online. This supports my claim that we should provide technology to everyone so people can have a job to live a good life because job findings are all based online these days.

We should provide technology for everyone, but some people disagree, they say that if we let people especially younger kids use technology they will become too dependent on it and not know what to do without. For instance, Michelle Harven from EdTech Times says, “Students are so quick to turn to the Internet to answer questions that some believe critical thinking has gone down the tube. Spelling is no longer something tested if everything is autocorrected and spell checked. This may be a larger issue of technology on our memory and brain-strength, but if we are using the Internet in schools, then kids are being taught to use Google to answer all their questions and to essentially, copy and paste their knowledge” (EdTech Times). While it is true that kids could be more prone to just look up things instead actually learning them, this is irrelevant because the technology wouldn't necessarily be used for that use.

The final argument of mine is that the internet helps kids to learn more about things they are interested in and without it they don’t have a good resource to look things up. In an article on KQED by Ki Sung she is writing about what is lost when kids don’t have internet and technology access. For example, “Kids who don’t have reliable Internet access at home (which includes the use of a laptop of desktop for connecting to the Internet) are ‘less likely to go online to look up information about things that they are interested in,’ according to the report.” (KQED). This report shows how important the internet and technology can be for young children. This supports my claim that we should give everyone technology because it can help kids pursue their passion.

It is clear that we should provide technology for people that do not have the resources. The Digital Divide is very important to our world because it is affected a lot of people, and we are using technology more and more and people are falling behind more and more. So, we should provide technology for anyone who doesn’t have the resources.

Work Cited

Kang, Ceclia. “Bridging a Digital Divide That Leaves Schoolchildren Behind.” New York Times. New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2016

Toyama, Kentaro. “The Problem With the Plan to Give Internet to the Whole World.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2016

Miller, Claire. “Fighting Homelessness, One Smartphone at a Time.” New York Times. New York Times, 14 Apr. Web. 13 Feb. 2016

Harven, Michelle. “Top 5 Problems with Technology in Education Today.” EdTech Times. EdTech Times, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2016

Sung, Ki. “What’s Lost When Kids Are ‘Under-connected’ to the Internet.” KQED. KQED, 3 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2016