How would one afford a new gold and yellow-diamond grill if they're wasting money on computers?
~ Blue Jays ~
Posted on 09/05/2006 12:36:02 PM PDT by ShadowDancer
Digital Divide Separates White, Minority Students
POSTED: 2:58 pm EDT September 5, 2006
UPDATED: 3:18 pm EDT September 5, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Many more white children use the Internet than do Hispanic and black students, a reminder that going online is hardly a way of life for everyone.
Two of every three white students -- 67 percent -- use the Internet, but less than half of blacks and Hispanics do, according to federal data released Tuesday. For Hispanics the figure is 44 percent; for blacks, it's 47 percent.
"This creates incredible barriers for minorities," said Mark Lloyd, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an expert on how communications influence civil rights.
Not using the Internet "narrows their ability to even think about the kind of work they can be doing," Lloyd said. "It doesn't prepare them for a world in which they're going to be expected to know how to do these things."
The new data come from the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the Education Department. It is based on a national representative survey of households in 2003.
Overall, 91 percent of students in nursery school through 12th grade use computers; 59 percent use the Internet.
Yet within those numbers, the digital divide between groups is a national concern.
Studies have shown that access and ability to use the Internet help improve people's learning, job prospects and daily living.
Schools have taken big steps to close the gaps.
Virtually all U.S. schools are connected to the Internet. The gaps in Internet usage between whites and minorities, though sizable, are smaller during the school day.
That's not the case at home.
A total of 54 percent of white students use the Internet at home, compared with 26 percent of Hispanic and 27 percent of black youngsters. Limited access can erode a student's ability to research assignments, explore college scholarships or just get comfortable going online.
Kids use the Internet most often for completing school assignments, the new study says. But they also count on it for e-mail, sending instant messages and playing games.
The racial divide in computer usage is tied to broader problems, including poverty in black and Latino communities and even a cultural reluctance to use the Internet, Lloyd said.
Among other students, 58 percent of Asian children and 47 percent of American Indian students use the Internet.
The numbers are growing for all groups of students - a bit of good news, Lloyd said.
"We should celebrate that, with caution," he said. "The sky is not falling. The numbers are improving. But there is still a gap, and we need to find a way to address it."
This only makes sense. If you spend all your time on the computer, you are going to be a pasty white kid.
Go outside and get some sun for pete's sake.
How would one afford a new gold and yellow-diamond grill if they're wasting money on computers?
~ Blue Jays ~
If blacks can afford cellphones, $100 NIKE shoes, a "pimped up" ride, DVD players, big screen TV, then they can afford a computer and an internet connection.
This country is saturated with all kinds of internet connections, from the basic dial-up, all the way to wireless broadband connections.
And we're supposed to believe anything this study says?
I suspect the typical black family owns a much higher $ value of electronics than I do.
Okay. Anyone in the market for a bridge?
The fact that folks like me don't want my tax dollars buying them a nice laptop and a high speed internet connection.
hey if you gotta choose between 22 inch dubs and a laptop, go with the wheels......
If you could make a gold-plated computer, and put it on a gold chain, I bet blacks in the ghettos would wear them around their necks.
Seriously, if it isn't bling bling, it isn't a priority in the ghetto, and as long as blacks are in the victim status, excused for poor performance in schools and thus not pushed to high literacy, computers will be as useless to them as the monothlith was to the cavemen in "2001: A Space Oddesy"
Having a computer ain't keepin' it real, you know-what-I'm-sayin'?
Ain't that the truth. Wife and I were talking just this weekend. Our oldest was big into sports. 6-year-old has no interest. We're just gonna have to pry him off the computer and throw him on the ballfield.
What about just playing outside in general?
Yeah, he likes that. It's usually supervision that's an issue. For most of the time my mother-in-law (lives with us) keeps him when my wife has to travel for work. But her health has gone downhill. The last time she had him outside (about 3 weeks ago) she fell and he had to get a neighbor to help.
He loves the pool, but that's closed now.
It's not that he can't/won't be active. It's just not his first choice. Especially when he's by himself. That's why we need to find some structured time. He's just shown no interest in organized sports.
So, Mom and Dad will be interested for him.
It's says they 'don't use it', not that they don't have access to it. So what's the problem?
my basic reaction to this story is " SO WHAT! & WHO CARES! "
Is this a pron?
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