How can you describe Digital Divide?
How can you describe Digital Divide?
Explain two areas where the Digital Divide exists between two different groups, use your own wordings. This was known as the Have & Have NOTs. Be sure to include an explanation of the area, information on the current statistics in this area, and your opinion of this area. You may conduct some research to understand the concept and share your opinions. Be sure to include citations of sources used to answer this question. Comment on at least one other student’s thread under this discussion topic.
You may conduct online some research on this topic to learn more about the term.
You give comment for this thread start from here
When I think of a Digitial Divide, I think of those who have access to technology versus those who don’t and how that has been highlighted during this COVID pandemic. The pandemic has made the world rely on technology more than ever before, with limited physical contact being promoted globally, many jobs had to utilize technology to communicate. Schools transitioned from the traditional classroom setting to online learning and with that came many challenges that put a spotlight on the Digital Divide between those with access to the internet and those who cannot afford internet or smart devices. When you think about a Digital Divide the first group that comes to mind would most likely be those living in rural areas but the recent Census has proven that urban areas are 3 times more likely to lack coverage and be considered internet deserts than rural communities (Downes & Levin, 2019). The true Digital Divide is between those who live in the suburbs and those who live in urban cities.
Urban cities, such as Baltimore City, are densely populated, as a whole, however there are many pockets within that whole that are starved and lacking access to technology. As of 2020, Baltimore City has a poverty rate of 21.8%, the highest in Maryland (Bonk, 2020). With that in mind, let’s shift to the cost of internet services in these low-income urban areas. Low-income and rural areas are more likely to be charged more by internet providers for the same service and speed than those who live in suburban communities, “A WSJ analysis of thousands of U.S. broadband bills finds that low-income and rural areas often get worse deals than their counterparts.”(Pacheco & Ramachandran, 2019). In 2020, there was some effort to bridge the divide, on the part of cable companies, like Comcast. Comcast made an effort to offer free internet services to every household with a student that could not otherwise afford to pay for the service. With the pandemic reaching it’s end it will be interesting to see if companies like Comcast will continue to provide internet access to low-income urban families, because even though students are returning to school they will still need access to internet to complete homework assignments after the school-day ends. Even though the state of Maryland now provides laptop computers to every single one of its students, not every student can actually utilize that resource because they lack the internet access. If you do not have internet access, another way to get your computer online would be a connection to a hotspot using your smartphone. This then brings us to yet another Digital Divide between low-income urbanites and suburban middle class households, like those in Baltimore County. Many students in the city can neither afford a smartphone nor the cost of monthly regular plans let alone the additional cost of hotspot access.
Another, blaring divide made evident during the past year was the support system in place for students in low-income urban areas versus those in suburban areas. As the pandemic hit and schools closed, parents found themselves at their wits end trying to homeschool multiple children in varying grades, each and every day. Suburbanites, put their heads together and many neighborhoods created a support system where parents either took turns hosting school days or kids broke off into age groups or grade groups, at different households, thus relieving stress because every suburban household within that neighborhood had the technological capability to support logging into the school’s chosen virtual system. This was a national phenomenom. Just about every state had communities with parents coming together to find solutions. Conversly, stories such as these were not highlighted about low-income urban communities, I am sure for a multitude of reasons the biggest being the lack of access to technology and additional resources. Even calculators and batteries for the calculators are not as readily available in low-income urban households as they are in suburban households.
There is much work that needs to be done in order to bridge the technological accessibility divide.
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Explain two areas of Social Issues of Technology. Computer systems bring lots of advantages for us; at the same time, there are some disadvantages as they were explained on our lecture PowerPoint slides.
Any new technologies introduced in our cities and future cities come with some advantages and some social issues. Please describe two areas of any social issues of technology that you can identify. Be sure to include an explanation of the area, your opinion of this area, and what can be done to improve this issue. Citations of sources are required for the answer. Comment at least on one other student’s thread under this collapse
This is the THERAD you are going to but comment in thanks
As technology has continued to evolve and has become more advanced, social issues have risen significantly and have started to make more of an impact on our daily lives. Before we can analyze social issues that have arisen due to computers, we should first define what a social problem is. By definition, “a social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed.” (1.1 What Is a Social Problem?) Using this information, we can establish and analyze different social issues with technology. The two social issues that will discussed here are cyberbullying and gambling addiction.
Cyberbullying is a very sensitive and serious topic as it “involves using technology, like cell phones and the Internet, to bully or harass another person.” (Bullying Statistics) It also can take several different forms, such as “sending mean messages or threats to a person`s email account or cell phone, spreading rumors online or through texts, posting hurtful or threatening messages on social networking sites or web pages, stealing a persons account information to break into their account and send damaging messages, pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person, taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through cell phone or the Internet, [and] sexting, or circulating sexually suggestive pictures or messages if a person.” (Bullying Statistics) Now that there is a definition of cyberbullying, we can start to understand the seriousness of it. One startling statistic is that “over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying.” (Bullying Statistics) Not only are most teens facing being cyberbullied, but they are also participating in cyberbullying people. I think cyberbullying is a major problem. As technology has continued to evolve, not only are younger people having an easier time with accessing the internet, but they are also accessing the technology needed. They are also cruel and are willing to torture someone with their words or actions for as long as it takes to get the point across. This can be extremely dangerous as sometimes it gets too extreme, and it may lead to self-harm and suicide. I personally feel that every week, there is the story of someone who had been cyberbullied and have committed suicide shared. It is extremely sad as these children are treated horribly and it becomes too much as they likely do not tell their parents. For this reason, I think that there should be strict cyberbullying laws created, and harsh punishments imposed to those who lead their victims to suicide. Social media websites could also create teams who are strictly focused on cyberbullying and will go through the content that has been posted, or comments made to posts, to look for and find instances of cyberbullying. After finding these instances, the team would take down the comment, and disable the page of the person who posted it. I also think that schools should be teaching their students, starting in elementary school, about cyberbullying and how dangerous it can be. By teaching young students, they will learn the importance of telling a trusted adult and could potentially not participate in cyberbullying because of what they have been taught. Cyberbullying is a huge problem, and I feel that action should be taken soon.
The second social issue is gambling addiction. There are at least four of the following requirements that must be met to classify it as a gambling addiction. The first is a “preoccupation with gambling (such as reliving past gambling experiences, planning one`s next gambling session, or devising ways of getting the necessary money to gamble).” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The second is “a need to spend greater amounts of money to achieve the desired level of excitement.” The third is “multiple unsuccessful attempts to reduce or stop gambling.” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The fourth is “irritability and restlessness when trying to reduce or quit gambling habits.” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The fifth is “gambling as a way of avoiding problems or temporarily improving ones mood.” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The sixth is “returning to gambling after losses as a way of earning back lost money (referred to as “chasing losses”).” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The seventh is “lying to family members, friends, employers and others in an attempt to cover up time spent or money lost while gambling” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) The eighth is “significant relationship, job and/or academic difficulties.” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) Finally, the ninth is “relying on others for money in order to get out of a desperate financial situation caused by gambling.” (Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic) In order for it to be considered a gambling problem, at least four of these requirements must apply to this case. Now that technology has evolved so much, there are now online gambling casinos, which are always online and available. For this reason, there are so many people who are becoming gambling addicts. An interesting statistic is that “the global market for online gambling reached around US $45.8 billion in 2017.” (Gambling.net)This market is huge, and it is even more interesting that “the worldwide online gambling market is forecast to double in coming years.” (Gambling.net) I personally find this to be an important issue. I personally do not see it to be a problem when people gamble occasionally. I also do not find it to be a problem if they gamble responsible. When it does become a problem, it is serious. Gambling addiction can ruin lives. It is important that something is done to prevent this issue. There needs to be strict rules regarding online gambling. It needs to be monitored and access to these services should be monitored and banned. If it is illegal in the state, then there should not be ways to bypass these requirements to get it. I think rules and laws need to be implemented. In addition, schools should also teach students about online gambling to teach them about the dangers and the effects of it. Overall, online gambling can be dangerous if it is done irresponsibly.
Overall, there are several types of social issues that have arisen from computers and technology being implemented. The two topics that I have discussed, which are cyberbullying and online gambling. It will be very important for actions to be taken as these issues will continue to be prevalent in our daily lives.
Works Cited
1.1 What Is a Social Problem? n.d. Web. 2 June 2021. .
Bullying Statistics. Cyber Bullying Statistics. n.d. Web. 2 June 2021. .
Gambling.net. Gambling Statistics: Gambling Stats Fom Around the World. n.d. Web. 2 June 2021. .
Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic. Online Gambling Addiction. 9 August 2019. Web. 2 June 2021. .
Every file should be organized to answer the question and we have two with one comment in all of them
Make sure to cite very good I need it done before 11;59 pm today
thanks
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