The Digital Divide and Its Effects on Education

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The Digital Divide and Its Effects on Education Little Rock, Arkansas- the birthplace of the integration movement in education and the place where the public schools would be impacted forever. It is here that the effect of the famous ruling in the United States Supreme Court case, Brown v. the Board of Education, Topeka Kansas, became visual to the public eye. Today, Little Rock’s Central High School that once stood as a “champion of equal education,” has now retrogressed to the former days of segregation. This phenomenon, known as re-segregation, is a nationwide dilemma. School districts are now becoming racially imbalanced as white parents send their children to private or public schools in suburban areas (Drew, 2004). According to the 2000 U.S. Census data, 70 percent of Little Rock’s school district’s public school students are black, while only 40 percent of the total population in Little Rock area is black. Because of this trend, schools are becoming more and more unequal, due to a lower tax base brought about by the absence of affluent white families and the increase of poverty stricken minorities. This has had a direct adverse effect on education, especially in terms of technological access. The result of this shift of demographic causes a disparity between those of different race, and socioeconomic status. This disparity is known as the digital divide. With our schools growing more and more diverse, even to the point of re-segregation, we as a society must look at how racial and socioeconomic groups differ in their technological access, whether or not exposure to technology at home and in school enhances their aptitude, and what can be done to break down the digital divide. What is the Digital Divide? There is a ... ... middle of paper ... ...05, from www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/net2/falling.html The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, under the urging of Former Vice President Al Gore, and in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Department of Commerce, published a report on the accessibility of telephones, Personal computers, and Internet to persons of different races, genders, and socioeconomic status. It contains statistical data and analysis. National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1999). Teaching young children to resist bias. Retrieved February 15, 2005, from http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/read_teaching.html Gives suggestions on how teachers can teach multiculturalism in the classroom. It also provides suggestions on how teachers can intercept and stop any notions of racial tendencies their students may have.

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