Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Closing the digital divide: understanding racial, ethnic, social class, gender and geographic disparities in Internet use among school age children in the United States

  • LONG PAPER
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics underlying disparities in Internet use among school age children in the US. The analysis found that a broad range of demographic, geographic and economic factors significantly influence Internet use among children. Significantly, the availability of household computing resources and adult Internet users in the household were most important in explaining disparities in use among children. To expand universal Internet access, future public policy should focus on providing support for in-home access; continued support for public access at out-of-home locations such as schools, and providing technical support, training and expertise to school age children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The US Census Bureau’s definition of household reference person is household “person number 1” in Census surveys and “refers to the person (or one of the people) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained) or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married couple, the householder may be either the husband or the wife. The person designated as the householder is the “reference person” to whom the relationship of all other household members, if any, is recorded reference person.” (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cps/cpsdef.html)

References

  1. Aczel AD, Sounderpandian J (2002) Complete business statistics, 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill, Irwin

    Google Scholar 

  2. Atkinson Rt, Leigh, A (2001) Clear thinking on the digital divide., Progressive Policy Institute, pp 1–20

  3. Attewell P(2001) Comment: the first and second digital divides., Sociol Edu 74:252–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Attewell P, Battle J (1999) home computers and school performance., Inform Soc 15:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  5. Baumgarten M (2003) L kids and the Internet: a developmental summary. ACM Comput Entertain 1(1); 2: 21-10

    Google Scholar 

  6. Blackman CR (1993) universal service: obligation or opportunity. Telecommun Policy 19(3):172–74

    Google Scholar 

  7. Canavan JE (1997) universal service policy in the United States: Where do we go from here?. Telecommunications 31(11):45–48

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cleary PF (1999) An Analysis of Internet use among school age children in the age of information., Ph D Dissertation, Northeastern University p 226–233

  9. Companie, Benjamin M, Weintraub, Mitchell J (1997) Universal access to online services: an examination of the issue. Telecommun Policy 21(1):15–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Connected to the Future (2002) The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Grunwald Associates, pp 1–8

  11. Corporation for Public Broadcasting (2003) Connected to the future: a report on children’s internet use from the corporation for public broadcasting. Grunwald Associates.

  12. Craig JD, Orlofsky GF (1999) Raising the bar on school technology., In: Technology Counts ’99, Education Week, 19, (n4), p.58–69.

  13. Creighton S, Hudson L (2002) Participation trends and patterns in adult education: 1991–1999., National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education, pp1–81

  14. DeBell M, Chapman C (2003, October) Computer and Internet use by children and adolescents in 2001., National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education, pp 1–56

  15. Druin A, InkpnKori (2001) Where are personnel technologies for children? vol 5. Springer, Berlin Heildelberg New york, pp 191–194

  16. Dyson E (1997) Commun ACM 40(2):35–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Education Week (2003) Tracking tech trends. Technology Counts.: State of the States Report

  18. Follansbee S, Gilsdorf N (1996) The role of online communications in school: a national study. Center Applied Special Technology, Peabody

  19. Franzke M, McClard A (1996) Winona gets wired: technical difficulties in the home. Commun CM 39(12):64–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gartner Group Report, 1998, October 12

  21. Haugland SW (1992) The effect of computer software on preschool children’s developmental gains. J Comput Childhood Edu 3(1):15–30

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. Hudson HA (1996) Universal service: the rural challenge, changing requirements and policy options. Benton Foundation, Communications Policy Working Paper Number 2, Washington, D.C. http://www.benton.org/Library/Rural/working 2.html, (24 November 1998)

  23. Igbaria M (1999) The driving forces in the virtual society. Commun ACM 42(12):64–70

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Internet Software Consortium (2000) http://www.isc.org/, 19 Jan 2001, p 1–2

  25. ITU World Telecom Indicators Database (2003 September)

  26. Jackson M, McDowell S (2000) Enhancing discourse on new technology within higher education. informa, commun soc, vol. 3, no. 4, Taylor& Francis, London, pp 629–638

  27. Kling R (1998) Technological and social access to computing, information and communication technologies. White Paper for Presidential Advisory Committee on High-Performance Computing and Communications, Information Technology, and the Next Generation Internet, http://www.ccic.gov/ac/whitepapers.html

  28. Lloyd M (2002) Reinvention of childhood in a networked world.. Australian Computer Society, Inc., pp1–4

  29. Mansell R (2002) From digital divides to digital entitlements in knowledge societies.. Current Sociology, vol 50 no. 3. Sage, Beverly Hills, pp 407–426

  30. Mengel S (1995) K12 and the Web, ACM SIGICE Bulletin, pp 20–24

  31. The Milken Exchange (1998) Technology counts.: State of the States Report. Education Week

  32. Moschella D, Atkinson R (1998) The Internet and Society. Progressive Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.

  33. Mueller M (1993) Universal service in telephone history: a reconstruction. Telecommun Policy 12:352–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Rust B, Stegman E (2003) Taking TCO to the classroom: a report and estimating tool for K-12 school districts. Why Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Matters. Gartner Group Report, pp 1–9

  35. Sawhney H (1994) Universal service: prosaic motives and great ideals. J Broadcast Electronic Media 38(4):375–395

    Google Scholar 

  36. Schement JR, Forbes SC (2000) Identifying temporary and permanent gaps in universal service. Inform Soc 16(2):117–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Smolinski M (2000) The digital divide and american society. The Gartner Group, pp 1–34

  38. Soloway E, Norris C (1998) Using technology to address old problems in new ways. Commun ACM 41(8):11–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Soloway E, Norris C et al (2002) K-12 and the Internet. Commun ACM 43(1):19–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. TCO Models (1997) Compaq Computer Corporation, http://web.ics.purdue.edu/∼kimfong/TCO/models.html

  41. Technology Counts 98, The State of the States, Education Week, p.1–23, (www. Edweek.org/sreports/tc98/st/st-n.htm)

  42. Trauth EM (2000) The culture of an information economy, influences and impacts in the Republic of Ireland. Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  43. Trauth EM, Kahn BK, Warden F (1991) Information literacy: an introduction to information systems. Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  44. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (1999) A nation online: how Americans are expanding their use of the internet. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

  45. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (2002) Falling through the net: defining the digital divide, economics & statistics administration. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

  46. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2000, spring) Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Occupational Projections, Washington, D.C., p 48

  47. Webopedia, http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/TCO.html

  48. Xavier P (1997) Universal service and public access in the networked society. Telecommun Policy, 21(9/10):829–843

    Google Scholar 

  49. Zastrocky M (1998) The Gartner Group, pp 1–34

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following organizations for their support and encouragement throughout the preparation of this paper: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Paul F. Cleary

  2. College of Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Glenn Pierce

  3. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Park, PA, USA

    Eileen M. Trauth

Authors
  1. Paul F. Cleary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Glenn Pierce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eileen M. Trauth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul F. Cleary.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cleary, P.F., Pierce, G. & Trauth, E.M. Closing the digital divide: understanding racial, ethnic, social class, gender and geographic disparities in Internet use among school age children in the United States. Univ Access Inf Soc 4, 354–373 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0001-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0001-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation