In order to stay connected economically, politically, and socially, it is important to have the ability to access computers and the internet.
However, not everyone is able to access such technology. The “digital divide” is the increasing rift between the “underprivileged members of society, especially the poor, rural, elderly, and handicapped portion of the population who do not have access to computers or the internet; and the wealthy, middle-class, and young Americans living in urban and suburban areas who have access”, according to the Computer Science department at Stanford University
During the Coronavirus pandemic, we are relying on the internet more than ever before. One of the demographics most affected by having to quarantine and social distance are students. Coronavirus is a challenge for students throughout the world. The digital divide is not new. When it comes to families having access to the internet, not all are fortunate.
In the rural parts of South Carolina, many students are unable to get online to join their virtual classes and complete their assignments. School districts across South Carolina requested buses equipped with Wi-Fi for low-income and rural areas to help students access their school work. Each bus has a router installed inside and it has the frequency range of a small parking lot, according to PBS. Fairfield County, South Carolina’s school superintendent J.R. Green, stated: “Lots of mothers and fathers are really not equipped to be home school parents.” The buses may aid families without access to Wi-Fi, but there is still a digital divide for families unable to afford devices capable of accessing their virtual education classes.
Texas is another state with limited access to the internet in rural areas. According to the director of the non-profit state program Connected Nation Texas, Jennifer Harris, there are about 440,000 households in Texas who do not have access to broadband in the rural areas. Unfortunately, this has about 1 in 3 households without the capability of participating in their online classes, reported by the Texas Tribune.
The Coronavirus has made the internet an everyday need instead of a convenience. The digital divide affects students throughout the world. Families who live in rural areas of China also lack the internet connections needed for their children’s education. Parents are unable to afford multiple devices for their children. Spotty signals in parts of China’s countryside have resulted in students having to hike for hours in the cold to the mountaintops in order to listen to their online classes. In the Province of Sichuan, a high schooler was discovered doing their homework under a rocky outcropping. In Hubei Province, two girls created their own type of classroom on a wooded hillside, according to the New York Times. Almost half the students in some classes are unable to join in online sessions because their families are without the necessary technological devices, said elementary school Principal Wang Dexue, of the Yunnan Province.
There are millions of Americans across our country who do not have access to the Web. This digital divide impacts students in online education classes. The Washington Post reports that children who would already have struggled with their school work during a normal school week are now experiencing more difficulties in completing their education due to financial and technological obstacles. Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, summed it up: “With Coronavirus, we’re about to expose just how challenging our digital divide is, and just how unequal access to broadband is. We’re going to have a reckoning.”
