My Rethinking of the Rethinking of the Digital Divide...

The idea of a digital divide does make a lot of sense, but what type of amateur blogger would I be if I didn't take a nonconformist approach and critique it to death? So here we go, try to stay with me on this one.

The digital divide contains a number of valid ideas - the accessibility of the internet and cable television certainly is higher throughout the Caucasian community than it is throughout the Black or Hispanic communities. Unfortunate as that may be, it's true. I'm a bit of a business guy myself, so seeing how targeting a statistically more well-to-do demographic isn't all that difficult to bring into perspective.

However, I think a bit too much emphasis has been put on the companies producing the access and too little has been put on some of the regulating bodies where the technology is present (i.e. teachers, parents, library workers, etc.).

In the world we live in today, typically it is assumed that most everyone possesses the basic knowledge to work the internet. This is a dangerous thing to assume. I understand that for most people my age, it is hardwired into our system courtesy of our technology age upbringing - but we can't all just assume that everyone acquired such knowledge.

I'll use myself as an example, why not.... I grew up in what most would consider to be the "lower class." My computer education stemmed from computer use at school - and I didn't gain cable television access until I went to college some 3 years ago. Sure, I had the internet at home, but not until my mid teenage years. It was the computer education that I gained through school that gave me the level of computer literacy that I maintain today.

I feel this is the problem with schools today. Even in the years since I was a kid (which admittedly was not all too long ago) technology has advanced to levels few could predict. These advancements I feel has given teachers the assumption that most (if not all) of their students have the knowledge to do as much on the internet as they do. I'm gonna get crazy here and say that I don't believe that to always be the case.

Teachers and parents can't ALWAYS assume that students are as computer literate as they're supposed to be. Especially with some students living in "the lower class." I understand that in public schools the number of kids "down there" is not typically that high, but it's there - and historically their grades are on the lower end as well.

So here is what I propose. Though most kids do have the knowledge (be it through classes, accessibility, etc) let's not assume that everyone does. This digital divide can be narrowed if children learn these skills at an earlier age through school. It doesn't take much - just make sure that they are learning the computer skills necessary to function. And when they do, make sure they are using it to their academic advantage, instead of trolling Facebook and whatnot.