I feel that for the most part, the Digital Divide is not a serious problem. After looking at statistics from the Excel assignment, many countries have lots of Internet users. I don’t think that the United States has a serious Digital Divide because there are so many Internet users in this country. It has become mandatory to know basics of a computer to do certain jobs. When I was in grade school, we used the computer some but nowhere near as much as it is used now in schools. I do feel that the Internet has exploded in terms of how much it is used and how many users use it. I think that this makes it harder for some generations. They say it is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks. This seems to be the case for older people who try to use the Internet. They do not have that background experience or knowledge of how to use a keyboard and many of them seem lost when it comes to the computer so they refrain from doing so. I think that it is sad for a highly qualified, older person to not get a job due to their lack of knowledge about how to use the Internet. This is an instance where the age should be considered when hiring. If they are qualified for the most part, then they should be able to learn pretty easily in my opinion. Technology has adapted but whenever the older generations were in school, they were not taught how to use a computer because back then it may not have seemed necessary to do so. Costs and availability may have been factors to this as well. I think that the Digital Divide causes a problem in this case. A very intelligent person who may be in their mid or late 60s may not have had experience with a computer for most of their life. I know that many older people who are wealthy are more likely to have been exposed to the computer and Internet in their past but there are too many that may fall behind. I think it is accurate to assume that the younger generation has background knowledge with computer usage so this may become a requirement for jobs or classes. I think that the Digital Divide is not real serious because those who know how to use the Internet or are required to use it will. When considering the Digital Divide in this country, I think it is important to remember that ALL children are required to go to school. This means that they may only be exposed to computers and the Internet at school. Since ALL children go to school, this means low-income, minority groups, middle-class and upper-class students attend. The low-income and minority groups may have never seen a computer before entering the classroom. They may not be able to work on skills they learn in the classroom at home. The only practice they get may be in the classroom. Their parents may not have previously been exposed to the computer which makes it impossible to help their kids because they may not have been able to afford a computer nor have they used a computer before. This may pose a problem for the divide because many students may grow up knowing what a computer is and how to search using the Internet but may not have had adequate practice at home enough to succeed in the working world. In these few examples that I mentioned, I do feel that the divide is serious but for the most part I feel that it is evenly distributed in our country.
