As Schools Close, Families Face the Digital Divide
By Dayle Beyer / ROANEnet.org
Madison, a 2nd grader at Bowers Elementary school, Harriman has a new FREE refurbished desktop computer and printer. When asked what she thought of getting this computer package, she gave it a rating of 5 stars which translates to “awesome” for a 2nd grader. Her mom said “Madison is able to complete her schoolwork from home, print worksheets and coloring sheets. It has allowed us to do online learning throughout the COVID19 pandemic. She is staying on pace and not gotten behind.”
The Doss family also has children in Bowers Elementary and says “We have two girls who are 9 and 7. The girls have really enjoyed being able to do iready on the computer which is a school thing. They’ve also enjoyed being able to use it during this quarantine to be able to video chat with school friends and family. This eases the confinement a bit for them. The girls have been able to research different things they were learning about. They weren’t assigned any science in their homeschool work packets. So, I used it to get some ideas of experiments we could do. We found the egg in vinegar experiment. After conducting the experiment, they used the computer to look up why the vinegar could cause the shell to disintegrate (or melt as the girls say) and we used it to look up PH and acid scale.”
These are just two of the 70 families who have recently received a free refurbished computer package via ROANEnet and our alliance partner, Tellico Village Computer Users Group. We provide these computers packages to families with no working computer in their home. These computers have given aid, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to 160 children in Rockwood, Harriman, Kingston and Oliver Springs.
The high demand for computers has outstripped our supply. While we’re happy to know that most middle and HS students (but not seniors) have a school-provided Chromebook, this leaves out the elementary school students that are not provided Chromebook to take home. That’s about 2,500 K to 5thgrade students who are now relying on school-provided paper workpackets and a parent/guardian as their primary source of education at home.
Why is there such a demand for computers? The reality is that some Roane County students don’t have reliable access to the internet and/or a computer at home – particularly those who are from lower-income households. According to Pew Research, roughly one-third (35%) of households with children ages 6 to 17 and an annual income below $30,000 a year do not have a high-speed internet connection at home, compared with just 6% of such households earning $75,000 or more a year. This digital disparity between those who can afford to have computers and online access and those who cannot is called the Digital Divide.
COVID-19 has widened this Digital Divide inequity even more. Not only is it an educational concern but it’s a public safety issue too. If people do not have a way to access the internet, they will certainly not stay in their homes. People who can’t bank, pay bills or shop at home must go out to stores, ATMs, payment centers and mailboxes. Family members who need medical care but can’t use telehealth tools are far more likely to show up at badly stressed emergency rooms and clinics, or else go without care – which could be a deadly choice in this situation.
If you are as concerned as we are about the education of our children and safety of our community then contact your local Roane County Commissioner and ask for their help in Bridging the Digital Divide in Roane County. Go to http://roanecountytn.gov/county-commission/ for your commissioner’s contact information.