If you are reading this right now,
you are probably one of the fortunate 77 percent of Americans with computer
access in your home. You were probably
checking e-mails, streaming Pandora, and scrolling through facebook when just happened
to stumble upon this lovely girl’s blog.
All throughout the year we peruse the digital constructs we build for
ourselves, but while you and I were playing and posting on social media
luxuries there is a woman without a computer struggling to make it by in the
town of Cornelius, North Carolina. She has three school-age kids and a baby,
and she takes all her children to the public library four times a week to use a
computer just so they can complete their schoolwork. There is a family in Davidson who can’t
afford to send their 11-year-old to a summer activity program because of the high internet bill they pay for their shabby, outdated computer. There are middle-schoolers
and high-schoolers who can’t type their papers or do their research like their
teacher asked: mom’s at work and they need to watch their younger
siblings. There’s a little boy in the
second grade who can’t identify the leaves he collected in the backyard for his
science class assignment because his family doesn’t have a computer, and even
if he could access one, his parents don’t have any computer skills with which
to help him. The other kids show up to school with pretty posters
of their leaves and descriptions from encyclopedia.com. This little boy has a couple unidentified
leaves in a plastic bag.
Some people look at the growing influence of digital
technology and only lament over what it has done to our culture and
communication. And yes, we should
probably all spend a little less time on facebook. But for these families, this divide is not a
matter of luxury. It’s a matter of
necessity.
While the digital world is booming, more and more of the
adult world is being loaded online.
Electronic mail. Banking and bill
paying. Job searching and
applications. News. College apps and info. Continuing education. In the child’s world, and increasing number
of schools expect students to utilize computer and internet resources for
homework assignments beginning as early as elementary school, to the detriment
of a fair percentage of students in many areas. Economically disadvantaged kids in Davidson pass
grade level at a rate 30-35% lower than their non-disadvantaged peers. Many simply don’t have sufficient access to
the tools to succeed. And with computer
and internet prices today, this one most crucial tool for upward mobility is
often only available to those who have already been upwardly mobile.
Most of us didn’t notice. We were logging in, linking in and
checking out. But one 13-year-old girl
in Davidson thought something was very wrong here.
After noticing some of her classmates face this struggle and
fail to complete their homework, Franny Millen brought it up to her family at
the dinner table and decided something needed to be done. Her dad scoured the town for a board of volunteers dedicated to their local schools and educational equity, and E2D -
“Eliminating the Digital Divide” - was born. This all began around
January of this year, and since then they have raised
almost $40,000 dollars through community donations, grants and even lemonade stands,
and have collected a slew of computers via personal and corporate donations. By the end of the
summer we will have installed wireless internet and new laptop computers in the
homes of all Davidson Elementary families without computer access, and will also have provided them with
computer skills training conducted by Davidson students. But believe me, it doesn’t stop there.
I heard about this project through the Civic Engagement
center at my college, and I came back to campus in June ready to hop on board
E2D as their summer intern. I had only a
faint idea of the breadth and impact of what had been started. In addition to engaging the College in
this effort, E2D has partnered with the Ada Jenkins Center to implement the program, a
center for human services, health services, crisis assistance and educational
support. I have been working with Pat Millen, Davidson College's Civic Engagement Center and Ada
Jenkins to identify these people in the community, process their information,
set them up with discount internet service, and design the training that they
will receive when they are given their computers at the end of august. Not only
have I gotten to learn about all the amazing services the Ada Jenkins center
offer, sparking an interest in social services, I have gotten to meet
incredible community members, volunteers and professionals who are all
passionate about service, empowerment and equal opportunity for the next generation. E2D is now looking ahead to expand the project
beyond Davidson and Cornelius, setting sights on the future digital divide
solution for all schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system (the 16th
largest system in the US…!!!!)
So there's one more kid who can complete his assignments on
time and get caught up in school, and one more kid who can go to summer
camp. One more mom who can save the time
and energy of taking 4 kids to the library 4 times a week as she tries to
support them. And hopefully many more kids who will google all
they can to learn about their own backyard.
Just today I came across a rather fitting quote: a man named
Larry Niven said “Everything starts as somebody’s daydream.” Even if you’re 13. If there was ever a reason for teaching kids
the power of imagination, this was it.
Read this description from Founder Franny Millen – I couldn’t
have said it better myself.
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