public library or even a school library grants some amount of Internet access. Additionally, it gives specific individuals the opportunity to learn other research methods involving these things that my generation used to call "books."
If you walk into a law library, you walk into a huge room or building full of books. Online legal research can be very, very expensive. So for all the children who want to work in the legal field, the Internet is nice - books will also be an integral part of your life.
The Internet is not a necessity. It is not a need. The Internet is a luxury. It is a want. If it were a necessity, the generations that grew up without it would have been mighty screwed. Seems to me Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and all the Supreme Court Justices turned out just fine without the Internet to aid in education during childhood. Just because something improves our life doesn't make it a necessity.
The Internet is a source of social interaction. Only about one in four adults with a disability use the Internet. It is a combination of many factors including income (Pew, 2012). The Internet is a great place to meet those with the same lifestyle or disability. Sometimes it is more cost effective and easier than attending support groups or bein able to go out and meet people.
Ways to bridge the digital divide:
- Realize that where there is a will, there is a way. Lack of Internet isn't a limitation. If you need it, access can be found in a variety of places.
- Offer to help those without access find free points of access.
- Realize that there IS too much of a good thing. How many family dinners in restaurants have you seen where everyone is staring at their phones instead of interacting with each other?
- Encourage public library use...and not just the computers.
- For those who do not use the Internet because they fear technology or find nothing relevant, seek out free computer classes at the library.