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Survey Finds 85% of Underserved Students Have Access To Only One Digital Device (educationdive.com)

Posted by msmash on from the digital-divide dept.

A new research [PDF] on students who took the ACT test, conducted by the ACT Center for Equity in Learning, found that 85% of underserved (meaning low income, minority, or first generation in college) students had access to only one device at home, most often a smartphone. From a blog post: American Indian/Alaskan, Hispanic/Latino, and African American students had the least access. White and Asian students had the most. Nearly a quarter of students who reported that family income was less that $36,000 a year had access to only a single device at home, a 19% gap compared to students whose family income was more than $100,000.

11 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sounds like first world problems, mate.

    1. Re:Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Please, check your priveledge, sir.

      .

      Turn your spell check on, you cretin.

      P-R-I-V-I-L-E-G-E

      PRIVILEGE.

  2. Are you sure... by cirby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...they're not just trendy?

    A lot of under-25 people I know only have a smartphone. No desktop, no laptop, not even a TV set.

    Just a phone - with access to the entire Internet.

    1. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My family was 'rich'. We had 1 computer that did not have the internet. I think we did OK.

      The internet is great for looking things up. But it is not the end all be all of education. That takes time and perseverance. Always has. Just giving someone a computer does not make them smart.

    2. Re:Are you sure... by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Times have changed, but people are still people. You can become a top tier scientist without growing up with computers or modern phones. Probably better without, as the 'smart' phones tend to make people dumb.

      Start with solid education FIRST. Learn to do arithmetic without a calculator, learn to do research without Google, learn to read a book without swiping, and draw a picture without a mouse.

  3. "Underserved?" by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    underserved (meaning low income, minority, or first generation in college)

    So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved? Being the first person in your family to go to college means you are being underserved?

    This sort of "words no longer mean anything" crap has completely swamped the entire educational establishment.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  4. How they do it by MikeRT · · Score: 3, Insightful

    * Lump all black socio economic groups together as simply "African-American."
    * Break whites down, somewhat, by socio-economic group.

    That's how they skew the results and make it look like being a minority is intrinsically a doomed position. It is guaranteed to drown out the story of the black middle class.

    1. Re:How they do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Also never note the fact that Asian and Indian Americans have higher household earnings than whites.

      Got to keep that narrative going.

  5. US History by DogDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It has to do with history. Low Income people, minorities, and people who are the first of their families in college have historically had a very hard time getting ahead in the US. It's a fact. Sorry that upsets you so much, snowflake.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:US History by jpaine619 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are a fucking LIAR.

      There are only 3 steps you need to have a 97% chance of ending up in the middle class.

      1. Graduate High School. (not college, just high school)
      2. Stay out of prison. (don't commit felonies)
      3. Don't have a child out of wedlock (use a rubber or learn to like blowjobs)

      That's it....

      You do those three things and the odds are very much in your favor that you'll do just fine in this country. Nobody out there is trying to "keep you down", asshole.
      Most people end up where they are because of the choices that they have made. When you make bad choices, you have to pay the piper... Well, unless you subscribe to the liberal mindset, in which case nothing is ever your fault..

      Do you all sit around all day imagining that rich people are gathered in dimly lit rooms, smoking cigars, and drinking single malt whiskey, while planning on how to keep poor people "in their place"?

      For fuck's sake...

      Yeah, those 3%, they'll do all the right stuff and luck or the system will shit on them, and that sucks... But most people will do just fine.

    2. Re:US History by magzteel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Kid, you have spent too much time reading Ayn Rand. As you get older, if you're smart and open to ideas, you'll learn that it ain't as simple as you describe.

      There are a LOT of other factors that go into whether or not a person is successful in the US other than the few you describe.

      I won't call you a "fucking LIAR", but I will call you ignorant. Luckily, that IS something you can remedy on your own. Best of luck, snowflake.

      How about these this study from the Brookings institute
      https://www.brookings.edu/opin...

      Or this one, from Britain
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...

      It's not a guarantee of success, any more than using condoms guarantees no pregnancies or STD's.
      But you wouldn't argue against condom use just because sometimes people who use them still create babies.

      Is there really anything in the advice given that you would argue against? I've given my kids more or less the same advice. Their future is an open book filled with promise, as long as they don't do anything fatally stupid like creating a baby, getting a record, dropping out of high school, getting drug addicted, etc. Do you advise your kids otherwise?