The Digital Divide

The Digital Divide is the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not. However, in this article the author talks about a different digital divide, which in this case is the time being spent on screens. “According to 2018 data from the Pew Research Center, white, black and Hispanic Americans use the Internet at virtually identical rates.” Now, what I found very alarming was the statistic that in families headed by two married, biological parents, 49 percent of teens spend less than an hour on screens per day. While families led by single, divorced or cohabiting parents, 31.9 percent of teenagers spend more than three hours a day on screens. There is a very big gap between the teens who are raised by married parents and divorced parents. This article relates to my Parenting and Technology class because in this case, teens that are being raised by divorced parents are social distancing themselves at a high level. These teens may not feel loved or cared enough, which results in them distancing themselves and relying on their screens to give them the attention they desire. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/18/real-digital-divide-isnt-about-access-internet/