The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not. It affects countries, populations, and races. Poorer people and underfunded schools may not have access to technology, while middle- and upper-class households and well-funded schools do. The divide also affects minority groups in the US. The gap is even wider in developing countries, where charities and government organizations provide computers to reduce the divide. However, some argue that addressing basic needs like clean water and food should come first.
The digital divide refers to the divide between people who have regular access to technology (such as computers and their related functions such as being able to access the Internet) and those who do not have this access. The term originated in the 1990s and was used heavily in the early days of President Clinton’s administration of the United States to discuss what could be done to bridge this gap. There are many ways to look at or consider the digital divide. For people like President Clinton, the divide separated the “haves and have-nots” within the United States. Other people evaluate how a perceived division might affect countries, populations, or races.
Internet and computer use has undoubtedly increased in the United States, and the digital divide may be smaller within some populations. However, a fact remains that poorer people may not be able to afford technology, and underfunded schools are not always able to offer regular use of technology to their students. Conversely, students in middle- and upper-class households, and in schools that are moderately to well-funded, can have technology at home and at school. This gives them significant advantages over those whose homes and schools don’t have the same offerings.
Another point of concern in the United States is how access to technology can divide large minority groups from Caucasians. Minor percentages of African-American and Hispanic citizens regularly use or have access to information technology. Since there are so many possible benefits of learning to use computers and how to exploit web materials, one argument is that the digital divide keeps people in certain social groups somewhat poor and uneducated. Reverend Jesse Jackson called it a kind of apartheid.
As significant as the digital divide may be in countries like the United States or Canada, the differences between access to technology in these countries and in most developing countries are even more stark. Even heavily industrialized nations like China have far fewer people able to use computers regularly and access the Internet. Poorer nations are even more divided from wealthier nations in this regard, and many argue that the wealth of information available to poorer nations through the Internet could help improve lives and end poverty.
To this end there are many charities and government organizations that help reduce the digital divide by providing computers or funding to provide computers to individuals or educational institutions. They can address the gap in a specific country that is developing. However, this can be problematic. In countries with severe poverty, many believe that early efforts should go towards providing clean water, medical care and food as needed, instead of giving people access to technology. Furthermore, in areas without sources of electricity, digital materials can be relatively useless, and some argue that trying to end the digital divide in extremely poor countries may not be possible until these countries meet certain standards of quality of life.
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