The Digital Divide - What’s being done to make digital life more equal?

May 29, 2009

Two years ago, Michael Ibarra’s “Big Brother” helped him get a scholarship to a private school by researching options online. But during the first half of sixth grade at the Clairbourn School in San Gabriel, California, Michael couldn’t keep up. His grades were slipping. The scholarship he got with the help of the Internet was taking him only so far because he didn’t have online access at home.

Michael lives with his 77-year-old grandmother, Margaret Ibarra, whose $1,400-a-month income doesn’t lend to extravagance, and paying for a high-speed Internet connection would put them over the top of their strict budget. “I know he needs [the Internet] desperately,” she says. “Yesterday, he was crying because he had a project that he had to do. Most of his homework comes through the network.” Thankfully, Michael’s Big Brother recently stepped in again, paying temporarily for the pricey Internet connection.

These days, if you’re not online, you’re not just out of luck—you’re also without access to education, jobs and much-needed tasks like online banking. Without the Internet, Michael, like 20 million other Americans, was being left behind...