I
was not surprised by the results of the study by Gretchen Livingston (2011)
regarding home Internet use by Latinos.
It makes perfect sense that income, education, language, nativity and
age all contribute to the finding that this group lags behind whites and blacks
in terms of technology.
The
sampling was relatively small. According to the introduction, 1,375 Hispanic
adults were contacted and the only mention I could find about where
people lived was the last paragraph on page 12, which states “the prevalence of
home internet connections among Latinos does not differ significantly by place
of residence. Some 65 percent of suburbanites have a home internet connection,
compared to 55 percent of city dwellers and 54 percent of rural residents” (Livingston,
2011).
What
I don’t see factored into the findings is availability and cost
of various delivery systems. If they were, and the sampling included more rural
areas, I think the statistical gaps would be larger. I live in an area where
broadband Internet access through the phone company is not an option, and
neither Comcast nor Cox Communications services the area so their Internet
plans are off the table. This leaves contracting with a satellite or power company
if broadband Internet service is what is required, which is more expensive.
In
the note at the bottom of page 5 of the report (Livingston, 2011), 35 percent of
Hispanic adults do not have a landline telephone, which would at least provide
access through a relatively inexpensive dial-up service like EarthLink. But
just as cell phones are not equivalent to broadband Internet access via a
computer, especially for tasks like filling out a job application for example,
dial-up has its limitations. Surfing the web is very slow and often, due to the
time it takes to load a page, the connection will time out and you have to
start over.
It
is encouraging to me that back in 2000, John N. Berry III, Editor-in-Chief of Library Journal, wrote an editorial
titled “Bridging All Digital Divides”.
He states, “Every digital divide urgently needs to be bridged, filled
in, or closed in whatever way possible”. He concludes with “The mandate for
librarians is to find ways to eliminate digital divides in all their
manifestations. Ours is among the few professions that have this primary
mission. It is both the challenge of our time and the guarantee of our future”
(p. 6).
Two
years later, John W. Berry (2002) wrote his final message as President of the
American Library Association. Titled “Equity of Access: Our Continuing
Challenge”, he discussed the work of the task force he set up to
“reconceptualize the role of libraries from that of passive safety net to the
more proactive notion of providing a springboard that positions libraries to
educate the unserved and underserved in the literacy skills that must
characterize informed 21st-century citizens” (p. 7).
By
focusing on this issue, individuals in leadership positions have helped
transform libraries and I am grateful for the progress that has been made
trying to level the playing field.
But
that field is always in flux and there is still a lot of work to do. I heard a
story on NPR recently about changes to the GED that will require a response on
the part of libraries as they continue to fulfill that proactive role mentioned
by Mr. Berry. According to the report, by 2014, taking the test will become
more expensive and it will only be offered on line (Orson, 2012).
Connecticut
State Representative Toni Walker, who is also assistant principal of the New
Haven Adult and Continuing Education Center, was interviewed for the story. Her
assessment was that low-income individuals won’t be able to afford to take the
test and, since less than 20 percent of her clientele has a computer at home, they may
not be able to figure out how to complete it on their own (Orson, 2012).
The
Pima County Public Library system provides GED tutoring at many branches. I
have no doubt that they will come up with new ways to overcome this latest
hurdle but they will need to hurry: 2014 will be here before we know it. And I sincerely hope that particular
attention is paid to the needs of Latinos so that they don’t fall even further
behind.
References
Berry,
J.N. (2000, May 15). Bridge all the digital divides. Library Journal, 125(9), 6.
Berry, J.W. (2002, June/July). Equity of access: Our
continuing challenge. American Libraries,
33(6), 7.
Livingston, G. (2011,
February 9). Latinos and digital technology, 2010. Pew Hispanic Center.
Washington, D.C.
Orson, D. (2012, November
28). Educators worry revamped GED will be too pricey. WNPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/11/28/165916695/educators-worry-revamped-ged-will-be-too-pricey
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