Initiative Seeks to Provide Internet Service to All

Nov. 9, 2000 -- A “digital divide” separates the technologically advantaged from thousands of young people who have no computer or Internet access at home and may have limited access at school. Bridging that gap is the goal of a new partnership announced Monday by America Online CEO Steve Case.

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The multimillion-dollar national initiative, called PowerUP, aims to reach underserved youth through hundreds of community centers and after-school programs across the country. More than a dozen corporations, nonprofit organizations and federal agencies will participate, with computers and Internet access provided by Gateway and AOL. Volunteer support will be provided by hundreds of Americorps and VISTA workers through the Corporation for National Service.

“There’s no single solution to bridging the digital divide, it’s going to take all of us working together to make a difference,” said Case, who chairs the nonprofit organization. “We must take steps now so that in the Internet Century, no children are left behind.”

“The No. 1 reason people buy computers and get on the Internet is for their children, so their children can have a better life,” said Ted Waitt, chairman and CEO of Gateway, who pledged to provide 50,000 computers to the program in the next three years through the Waitt Family Foundation. “Nothing is more important in our lives and in the future of our communities than ensuring all of our children have access to the tools and information they need to get ahead, and stay ahead,” he said.

How It Will Work PowerUP will partner with existing community centers such as YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, the National Urban League and other organizations to connect young people with learning activities and technological access. The organization will also work with computer and learning centers in public schools to provide additional educational opportunities during and after school hours.

Other PowerUP partners will provide funding, healthy snacks and trained personnel to give guidance and support to children working on computers. The AOL Foundation is providing 100,000 Internet access accounts for the program.

“PowerUP is an example of how public and private partnerships can make a real difference,” predicted Terry K. Peterson, an adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Education. “Children’s minds don’t stop working at 3 p.m.,” he said, adding that youth crime is highest between 3 and 8 p.m.

Are Computers Necessary? But not everyone is convinced that more computers are just what America’s children need.

“Of all the problems facing kids today, lack of electronic information is not a big pressing issue,” says Clifford Stoll, the author of the recently published High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian. “The Internet puts us in very close touch with distant strangers, and it isolates us from those people who are in the same room with us or in the same house,” Stoll says. Children would be better served by programs that encourage physical activity or human interaction, he argues, than something that is akin to watching television.

Stoll argues that while computers and corresponding access to the Web provide huge amounts of information to young people, they don’t teach the skills necessary to reflect and think critically about what they learn. “There’s a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it,” Stoll says.

According to PowerUP, the need for computer education is unquestionable and is supported by numerous statistics:

As early as next year, 60 percent of jobs will require technological skills, according to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates.

Only 31.7 percent of single-parent households have a computer, compared with 61.8 percent of married couples households.

Homes with a household income of more than $75,000 are more than 20 times more likely to have home Internet access than those at the lowest levels.

61.6 percent of people with college education use the Internet, as opposed to 6.6 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

Whether it’s what America’s students need or not, PowerUP hopes to provide the option of Internet access to thousands more young people in the year ahead.

“There’s no single solution to bridging the digital divide, it’s going to take all of us working together to make a difference,” said Case, who chairs the nonprofit organization. “We must take steps now so that in the Internet Century, no children are left behind.”

“The No. 1 reason people buy computers and get on the Internet is for their children, so their children can have a better life,” said Ted Waitt, chairman and CEO of Gateway, who pledged to provide 50,000 computers to the program in the next three years through the Waitt Family Foundation. “Nothing is more important in our lives and in the future of our communities than ensuring all of our children have access to the tools and information they need to get ahead, and stay ahead,” he said.

How It Will Work PowerUP will partner with existing community centers such as YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, the National Urban League and other organizations to connect young people with learning activities and technological access. The organization will also work with computer and learning centers in public schools to provide additional educational opportunities during and after school hours.

Other PowerUP partners will provide funding, healthy snacks and trained personnel to give guidance and support to children working on computers. The AOL Foundation is providing 100,000 Internet access accounts for the program.

“PowerUP is an example of how public and private partnerships can make a real difference,” predicted Terry K. Peterson, an adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Education. “Children’s minds don’t stop working at 3 p.m.,” he said, adding that youth crime is highest between 3 and 8 p.m.

Are Computers Necessary? But not everyone is convinced that more computers are just what America’s children need.

“Of all the problems facing kids today, lack of electronic information is not a big pressing issue,” says Clifford Stoll, the author of the recently published High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian. “The Internet puts us in very close touch with distant strangers, and it isolates us from those people who are in the same room with us or in the same house,” Stoll says. Children would be better served by programs that encourage physical activity or human interaction, he argues, than something that is akin to watching television.

Stoll argues that while computers and corresponding access to the Web provide huge amounts of information to young people, they don’t teach the skills necessary to reflect and think critically about what they learn. “There’s a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it,” Stoll says.

According to PowerUP, the need for computer education is unquestionable and is supported by numerous statistics:

As early as next year, 60 percent of jobs will require technological skills, according to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates.

Only 31.7 percent of single-parent households have a computer, compared with 61.8 percent of married couples households.

Homes with a household income of more than $75,000 are more than 20 times more likely to have home Internet access than those at the lowest levels.

61.6 percent of people with college education use the Internet, as opposed to 6.6 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

Whether it’s what America’s students need or not, PowerUP hopes to provide the option of Internet access to thousands more young people in the year ahead.

How It Will Work PowerUP will partner with existing community centers such as YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, the National Urban League and other organizations to connect young people with learning activities and technological access. The organization will also work with computer and learning centers in public schools to provide additional educational opportunities during and after school hours.

Other PowerUP partners will provide funding, healthy snacks and trained personnel to give guidance and support to children working on computers. The AOL Foundation is providing 100,000 Internet access accounts for the program.

“PowerUP is an example of how public and private partnerships can make a real difference,” predicted Terry K. Peterson, an adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Education. “Children’s minds don’t stop working at 3 p.m.,” he said, adding that youth crime is highest between 3 and 8 p.m.

Are Computers Necessary? But not everyone is convinced that more computers are just what America’s children need.

“Of all the problems facing kids today, lack of electronic information is not a big pressing issue,” says Clifford Stoll, the author of the recently published High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian. “The Internet puts us in very close touch with distant strangers, and it isolates us from those people who are in the same room with us or in the same house,” Stoll says. Children would be better served by programs that encourage physical activity or human interaction, he argues, than something that is akin to watching television.

Stoll argues that while computers and corresponding access to the Web provide huge amounts of information to young people, they don’t teach the skills necessary to reflect and think critically about what they learn. “There’s a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it,” Stoll says.

According to PowerUP, the need for computer education is unquestionable and is supported by numerous statistics:

As early as next year, 60 percent of jobs will require technological skills, according to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates.

Only 31.7 percent of single-parent households have a computer, compared with 61.8 percent of married couples households.

Homes with a household income of more than $75,000 are more than 20 times more likely to have home Internet access than those at the lowest levels.

61.6 percent of people with college education use the Internet, as opposed to 6.6 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

Whether it’s what America’s students need or not, PowerUP hopes to provide the option of Internet access to thousands more young people in the year ahead.

“Of all the problems facing kids today, lack of electronic information is not a big pressing issue,” says Clifford Stoll, the author of the recently published High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian. “The Internet puts us in very close touch with distant strangers, and it isolates us from those people who are in the same room with us or in the same house,” Stoll says. Children would be better served by programs that encourage physical activity or human interaction, he argues, than something that is akin to watching television.

Stoll argues that while computers and corresponding access to the Web provide huge amounts of information to young people, they don’t teach the skills necessary to reflect and think critically about what they learn. “There’s a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it,” Stoll says.

According to PowerUP, the need for computer education is unquestionable and is supported by numerous statistics:

As early as next year, 60 percent of jobs will require technological skills, according to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates.

Only 31.7 percent of single-parent households have a computer, compared with 61.8 percent of married couples households.

Homes with a household income of more than $75,000 are more than 20 times more likely to have home Internet access than those at the lowest levels.

61.6 percent of people with college education use the Internet, as opposed to 6.6 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

Whether it’s what America’s students need or not, PowerUP hopes to provide the option of Internet access to thousands more young people in the year ahead.

61.6 percent of people with college education use the Internet, as opposed to 6.6 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

Whether it’s what America’s students need or not, PowerUP hopes to provide the option of Internet access to thousands more young people in the year ahead.