The color of Internet access

By ALICIA CALDWELL

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 6, 2001

[Times photo: Fred Victorin] Michael Jackson, 13, foreground, Britany Conyers, 12, middle left, Simone Durant, 12, and Ernest Fuller, 13, and Brandon Green, 11, back row, use computers at the Enoch Davis Center in St. Petersburg as Wanda Mitchell, back right, supervises.

You don't have to look at a clock at the North Greenwood public library to know when school has let out.

Just watch the kids line up to use the three computers with Internet access in this branch library, an anchor of Clearwater's African-American community. Most of the youngsters, said Clearwater library system director John Szabo, don't have a computer at home and need one for school work.

"When school's out, that library is absolutely shoulder to shoulder," Szabo said.

In what is the largest national survey of computer use, the U.S. Commerce Department today released statistics that show African-American and Hispanic children are far less likely to have a computer at home than white children. Consequently, computer access at schools and public libraries is particularly important to these youngsters as computers increasingly become life tools in the 21st century.

"Libraries are the on-ramp to the information highway for these children," Szabo said. "They depend on us."

The statistics show that about 77 percent of white children who are not Hispanic have a computer at home, as do 72 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander children. However, only 43 percent of African-American children and 37 percent of Hispanic children have a computer at home.

The statistics come from a survey of 50,000, which is weighted to reflect the nation's population. It has been conducted every few years by the Census Bureau but should not be confused with Census 2000, which does not ask questions about computer use.

The report, and others before it, underscore a nationwide trend of digital disparity, where computer use and Internet access is a privilege most often found in white and wealthy households.

"Although disadvantaged groups have substantially increased their home access to computers and the Internet, the gap between these groups and white Americans is growing," according to a National Science Foundation report issued last year.

The situation is disturbing to state Sen. Les Miller, D-Tampa, who during his 2000 senate campaign frequently pointed out how important it is for minority children to learn computer skills.

"If they go home and don't have access to computers they are going to be left behind," Miller said.

The issue, he said, is one of economics.

"To go out and spend $800 to $1,500 for a computer is very difficult for many families," Miller said.

The folks at the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, a non-profit service agency based in Immokalee, are trying to address that problem. They've gotten a $400,000 state grant to buy computers and provide training for 135 migrant and farm worker families, who typically are Hispanic.

The group is starting the computer program for families at its Collier County charter school, with the hope of expanding it to the 80-student charter school it operates in Wimauma. The association will provide classes and home Internet access.

"This is not only for the children, but for the parents and the extended families so they can improve themselves," said Maria Jimenez, director of charter schools for Redlands.

At the North Greenwood library in Clearwater, officials are planning to buy about 15 computers as part of a new, 8,000-square-foot library. Szabo expects them to be heavily used.

"The public library plays a critical role in providing access to technology to those who are not able to afford it in their own homes," Szabo said.

And so do schools, according to the government report. Computer access at public schools was nearly equal across various income, race and ethnic groups.

All told, nine in 10 children had access to a computer at home or at school, which suggests a basic proficiency, said Eric Newburger, the Commerce Department statistician who wrote the report.

"Most kids won't be left behind," Newburger said. "But that's not advanced education."

Wanda Mitchell, program director at St. Petersburg's Enoch Davis Center, said there is a big difference between having leisurely, virtually unlimited access and taking quick turns at a busy terminal.

The Enoch Davis Center -- in the heart of St. Petersburg's black community -- runs after-school programs and is next door to the James Weldon Johnson Branch Library, where children can use computers with Internet access.

Mitchell said the staff frequently has to set a 30-minute limit per student so that more than a few can get a chance at the keyboard. Even with that restriction, the children find themselves having to do research together so everyone can get their homework done.

"They kind of work with each other," Mitchell said. "They have to."

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