The Digital Divide is hurting our youth

Frank E. X. Dance discusses a serious issue with the internet in The United States even though are country is nearly the best when it comes to this problem. The issue is the presence of the internet in peoples home. Families owning a computer with internet access is getting better each year, however not ever family is fortunate enough to own a computer and this is what we call The Digital Divide. The 1999 NTIA documents show how the increase in digital software as well as the amount of families and age groups began using email to communicate from 1994 to 1999. The facts are evident and not surprising to me at all. Two groups of people that stood out in this study were inner city families as well as families living in rural areas lagged behind in these statistics. Black, and hispanic households were substantially behind in this study which is recurring problem. The digital divide often parallels the economic divide so that the digitally rich keep getting richer and the digitally poor, remain poor. This divide becomes a further problem when these children go to use the school computers and students have to fight over whose turn it is. Denying equal access increases poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, hostility, and anti social behaviors. Today many new jobs are coming about, for instance being a computer technician is a respectable job and Dance goes to say that there is a shortage of workers because it is hard to find qualified people. This shouldn't even be a concern in America, but it is. Imagine having a great opportunity to work for a company and then finding out you have to be somewhat computer savy and can't contribute, that shouldn't happen in this day and age. Dance also mentions the social digital divide, and I'm not so concerned nor feel petty towards those folk. If it is against your religion to use new technology, then Im sorry that you chose that faith. However, I do understand when my grandmother gets frazzled when trying to email or use the internet because I can see how that can be an overwhelming task for an elderly person. The digital divide shouldn't be neglecting the youth though, and these democratic politicians share their thoughts on this subject.... By the way I've never seen a man sweat like Richardson its pretty wild!