Three Million US Students Lack Home Internet

 

Raegan Byrd tries to complete her school homework every night. But the high school student in Hartford, Connecticut, uses her mobile phone because she does not have a computer or internet at home.

Smartphones can connect to the internet. But they have small screens. Byrd has a hard time switching between websites, and messages sent from friends. She says she tries to write school papers on her phone. But when there are internet connectivity problems, she writes them by hand, she told the Associated Press.

The AP studied information from the U.S. census¹ and found that nearly 3 million students in the United States do not have internet at home. That is about 17 percent of all U.S. students. Eighteen percent of students do not have home access to broadband internet.

Nearly all American students have access to computers and the internet in their schools. But at home, the cost of internet service, and sometimes the lack of availability, create problems in rural areas, and even cities. Some call the problem, “the homework gap.”

How the homework gap hurts students

Until a few years ago, Raegan’s school gave every student a laptop equipped with an internet hot spot—providing them with internet. But the money for the program ran out.

School districts, local governments in Connecticut and others have tried to help. Districts put wireless² internet on buses and created hotspots. Many communities made lists of restaurants and other businesses with Wi-Fi places where children are welcome to come and do their homework.

Some students study in the parking lots of schools, libraries or restaurants — wherever they can find a signal.

Another option for communities is to provide access through unused television frequencies. The Hartford Public Library plans to try that next year.

The National Center for Education Statistics³ suggests that students with home internet get better scores in reading, math and science than ones who do not. The homework gap can hurt the poor and minority students, creating barriers to their education.

Janice Flemming-Butler is an activist⁴ who has researched barriers to internet access in Hartford. She said it is a big injustice⁵ for minority students not to have equal access to the internet.

Susan Johnston is an English teacher in Harford. She said using paper and chalkboards is not a good idea. She thinks students really need to learn to use technology “because it’s not going away.”

The U.S. Department of Education gathered statistics in 2017 and released its findings in May. It found that the number of households without internet has been getting smaller, but 14 percent of homes in city areas and 18 percent of homes in rural areas still lack internet connections. About 33 percent of homes with school-age children that do not have internet say money is the reason.

A commissioner⁷ at the Federal Communications Commission⁶, Jessica Rosenworcel, called the homework gap “the cruelest part of the digital divide.”

In rural northern Mississippi, home internet is not available for some whether they can pay for it or not.

Sharon Stidham takes her four boys to the school library at East Webster High School. Her husband works there, so they can use the internet for schoolwork. A cellphone tower can be seen through the trees from their home, but the internet signal does not reach their house.

A third of the 294 households in Maben, Mississippi, have no computer and close to half have no internet.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

And I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

access – n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

broadband internet – n. high speed internet that is faster than traditional dial-up access

gap – n. a space between two people or things

hot spot – n. a device that allows a computer to connect to public wifi

district – n. an area established by a government for official government business

frequency – n. technical : the number of times that something (such as a sound wave or radio wave) is repeated in a period of time (such as a second)

score – n. the number of points that someone gets for correct answers on a test, exam or class

chalkboard – n. a kind of blackboard used mostly in classrooms to write instructions on in chalk

digital – adj. showing the time with numbers instead of with hour and minute hands

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

3 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

6 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。