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Dakota Sisson

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 2

March 11, 2022

Technology in Today’s World.

“Technologies help people achieve something greater, not to control us. People help

people to be successful, not to bring us down. In short, people use technologies and love others

yet nowadays, people are used and gadgets are loved.” (Searchquotes). As this quote depicts,

from an anonymous author technology can be positive or negative, but lack of technology can

also be a problem. There are people who do not have access to technology, which negatively

affects their quality of life. Furthermore, the digital divide needs to be bridged in order to provide

equal access to technology, education, and the Internet.

First, the digital divide needs to be eliminated so anyone can access technology. There

are people who in this age of technology do not currently own any technologies simply because

they cannot afford such items, or they may feel like they do not actually need them. In a study by

V. Deepa et al., they asked students from underprivileged families if they had any technology or

phones, and most of the underprivileged students said they do not own a phone and that if they

did, it was their parents’ phone, not theirs. However, when they asked the students with affluent

families, all of them had some form of technology, whether it was a phone, or a laptop, or both.

As the reader can see from this study, the digital divide is extremely divisive to the point that

there are people who do not even own any technology; this is a problem that needs to be fixed

because the world that people live in now thrives on technology. Likewise, the superintendent of
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an Ohio school (Womack, Jr.) decided to dish out thousands of chrome books to students who

could not afford them; this brought up another issue where now the problem was Internet access,

a problem that this essay will discuss later. These students were given technology they could use

at home, but not the internet access needed to make it helpful. They also would not be able to

pay for the device if something happened to it. This example shows how badly the digital divide

is affecting students who cannot afford this technology; all people who live on this planet should

be able to access technology, as going forward, humans on this planet will rely on it.

Along with access to technology, the digital divide affects education. Students during the

digital divide are having major problems when it comes to their education. In V. Deepa et al.’s

study, the authors depict some of the differences between being underprivileged and being

privileged, and the living conditions that might be a problem for students in getting their

education. Most of the underprivileged students have government aided schools. In a different

report by Sandy D. Womack Jr., who conducted a study during the COVID-19 lockdown, during

the school shut down is when people could without a doubt see just how bad the digital divide is.

Students did not have internet or technology, which led to them missing their education until a

school could provide them with the technology and internet that they needed to be able to attend

online classes. Jeremy Ney wrote, “According to the Federal Communication Commission

(FCC) 21 million Americans and 10 million school-age children do not have access to internet

connection, this means that 15 percent of American children will not have the same education as

their peers, will struggle academically, and will have fewer economic opportunities when they

grow older” (Ney par.2). Those numbers are astounding. Imagine how unfair it is for children to

grow up without all these same opportunities and how it could affect their future. This shows us
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that there are huge amounts of American people who do not have access to technology and the

internet that they need for their education.

Lastly, lack of internet access is another problem caused by the digital divide.

Furthermore, there are three major reasons why Americans do not have access to internet today.

First, the internet is too expensive, costing about $60 a month, while low-income households

may have a reduction in payment to $10 a month. Second, some areas are geographically

isolated; therefore, companies who run the cables to get internet to areas do not want to go

through all the trouble to give internet access to a small population. Finally, the government's

efforts to eliminate the digital divide are proving to be an utter failure, because they have made

such little progress. The internet is extremely important, as explained in the article "Bridging the

Digital Chasm through the Fundamental Right to Technology."; author Haochen Sun is arguing

that the government should consider the internet a right and that all people should equally have

access to it. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone was locked indoors, schools had to

dish out remarkably plentiful hotspots so that their students could have access. Their own staff

was experiencing slower internet connection rates. This is a problem because schools should not

have to give out an abundance of hotspots because almost everyone should have access to the

internet. All in all, internet access should be equal and that would help to bridge the digital

divide.

Overall, people need to work to overcome the digital divide to provide equal access to

technology, education, and the Internet. While some people have plenty of access to technology,

there are still numerous people who do not have technology available to them when they need it.

Furthermore, for their quality of life, internet and technology are a necessity; thus, teachers need

to make them available to every student in school. Moreover, the internet should be available for
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free or at least at a reasonable cost to everyone, regardless of where they live or their income.

Although “people are used and gadgets are loved,” let us work together to love people and give

them equal access to technology.

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Works Cited

Deepa, V., et al. "Unsung voices of technology in school education-findings using the

constructivist grounded theory approach." Smart Learning Environments, vol. 9, no. 1, 4

Jan. 2022, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688731908/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-

AONE&xid=872a9d61. Accessed 6 Jan. 2022.

Ney, Jeremy. "America's Digital Divide." Kennedy School Review, vol. 21, annual 2020, pp.

47+. Gale Academic OneFile,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A681362464/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-

AONE&xid=d531d209. Accessed 6 Jan. 2022.

Sun, Haochen. "Bridging the Digital Chasm through the Fundamental Right to Technology."

Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, vol. 28, no. 1, fall 2020, pp. 75+. Gale

Academic OneFile,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A653456550/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-

AONE&xid=92257c5c. Accessed 6 Jan. 2022.

Womack, Sandy D., Jr. "Addressing the Digital Divide." Principal Leadership, vol. 21, no. 6,

Feb. 2021, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A652827059/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-

AONE&xid=f4de38fd. Accessed 6 Jan. 2022.