Internet Access

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the problem of inequality and how it manifests itself in relation to computer technology. The problem, often called the "Digital Divide", is examined from a racial, social, and economic perspective and looks at how computer illiteracy will have lasting effects academically, socially, and professionally. The paper also looks at efforts by groups that claim that computer and Internet access are a right and not a privilege and should be available to every student regardless of income, neighborhood, socio-economic class, or race.

From the Paper:

"The disparity between the social classes in America relating to information technology access has been well documented by numerous surveys and studies over the past several years. The general findings of the research done into this area is very consistent, boiling down to the advantages of being among the "haves" rather than the "have-nots." "High-income, Caucasian, married, and well-educated individuals have more access to IT compared to low-income, African American and Latino, unmarried, and less-educated individuals." (Aemon 2004) Computers, like many of the comforts and opportunities of which the upper classes take advantage, are less accessible to those of the lower classes. The division was already apparent in 1999 when the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) performed a comprehensive information technology survey, revealing that only 34 percent of students at UNCF schools used the Internet, but the average of all four-year colleges in America for internet access was 78 percent."

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