Digital divide in computer access and use between poor and non-poor youth

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2004 by Mary Keegan Eamon

The main objectives of this study were to examine the "digital divide" in home computer ownership and to evaluate differences in academic and non-academic computer use between poor and non-poor youth. Data from a national sample of 1,029, 10- through 14-year-old young adolescents were analyzed. Results show that poor youth were .36 times as likely to own a home computer, but equally as likely to use their home computer for academic purposes as were non-poor youth. Poor youth did not differ from non-poor youth in how often they used any computer for academic purposes, but were less likely to use any computer for non-academic purposes. Government initiatives to close the digital divide and foster computer use among poor youth are suggested.

Key words: digital divide; poverty; computer use; information technology

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The phrase "digital divide'--the disparity between individuals who have and do not have access to information technology (IT)--became part of our country's vocabulary in the mid-1990s (Wilhelm, Carmen, & Reynolds, 2002). Well-documented inequalities in access to and use of IT such as the computer and Internet reflect existing patterns of social stratification in the United States (Steyaert, 2002). For example, 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 (National Telecommunications and Information Administration [NTIA], 2000, 2002).

Although recent increases in access to IT in public schools have narrowed the IT gap between high- and low-income and white and minority students (NTIA, 2002), inequalities in IT access and use among children and adolescents continue, paralleling those of adults (Attewell & Battle, 1999). A recent survey (NTIA, 2002) indicates that less than 3% of adolescents living in the highest income families do not use computers, compared to approximately 15% of youth in the lowest income category. Although home computer use is almost universal among the wealthiest youth, only one-third of the lowest-income youth use a home computer. The survey found similar differences in Internet access and use between low- and high-income youth and in computer and Internet access and use between Latinos and African Americans and whites.

For more than a decade, numerous private and government initiatives have assisted poor communities and low-resource schools (where poor and minority students are more likely to reside and to attend) to gain access to computers, educational software, and the Internet (Wilhelm et al., 2002). Despite the well-documented IT gap between high- and low-income youth, and the billions of dollars that have been spent to close this gap (Roberts, 2000), few studies have examined IT access and type of IT use between poor and non-poor youth using multivariate methods. The multivariate methods used in this study enable the assessment of the independent influences of poverty on home computer ownership and on type of IT use, while controlling for other socio-demographic factors.

Implications of the Digital Divide

Diverse groups of individuals from government, education, social work, private foundations, industry, the popular press, as well as parents and youths themselves, have expressed several reasons why the nation should be concerned about the gap between the IT "haves" and "have-nots" (Brown, 2000; Hick & McNutt, 2002; NTIA, 2000; Turow & Nir, 2000). These concerns fall into four main themes: educational advantages, future employment and earnings, opportunities for social and civic involvement, and equity and civil rights issues.

Many educators, researchers, policy advocates, and government officials maintain that computers, educational software, and the Internet offer a number of educational advantages (Center for Media Education, 1996; Lepper & Gurtner, 1989; Ross, Smith, & Morrison, 1991). IT can provide students and teachers with a large body of easily accessible information; create opportunities to reinforce learning basic, new, and higher-order cognitive skills; and increase student interest and motivation, parent-school communication, and parent involvement. These advantages, in turn, are expected to produce positive educational outcomes such as increased student achievement and school retention (Center for Media Education, 1996; U. S. Department of Education, 1999; Wenglinsky, 1998). Research tends to support these expectations, generally finding positive relations between school, home, and community uses of IT and a variety of academic outcomes both for socioeconomically disadvantaged (e.g., Blanton, Moorman, Hayes, & Warner, 1997; Ross et al., 1991; Sutton, 1991) and other children and youth (e.g., Campbell, Hombo, & Mazzeo, 2000; Fletcher-Flinn & Gravatt, 1995; Rocheleau, 1995; Schacter, 1999; Wenglinsky, 1998). Recent polls also indicate that parents, registered voters, elected officials, and business leaders share the belief that IT provides students with educational advantages. For example, almost 90% of polled parents agreed that access to IT assists children with their school work, and 74% of parents believed that children without access to IT are at an educational disadvantage (Turow & Nir, 2000). Over two-thirds of registered voters also agreed that educational computer uses would make a great deal or a fair amount of difference in the quality of children's education (Milken Exchange on Educational Technology, 1998).