New Childrens'

For release June 1, 2005
How Can the Internet Help America’s Children Succeed?
First-Ever Report by The Children’s Partnership Measures the Effect of
Digital Technology on Children
To download the report, visit
> www.contentbank.org/DOMS
The Children’s Partnership released today the results of a year-long
study, Measuring Digital Opportunity for America’s Children, that
examines if and how technology tools help children 1) increase
educational achievement; 2) lead healthier lives; 3) prepare for the
workforce; and 4) become engaged in their communities.

The Digital Opportunity report includes a review of existing research
and studies to determine how information and communications technology
(ICT) benefits children, as well as an analysis of how low-income,
minority and disabled children disproportionately lack access. The
report also introduces The Digital Opportunity Measuring Stick, an index
of forty indicators that provides a first-ever snapshot of how the
Internet and other ICT are benefiting children. The Measuring Stick can
serve as a baseline for tracking how effectively we are creating and
delivering digital opportunities for America’s youth.

The Internet’s use among children has grown faster than any other
communications medium in history. Over the past 10 years, the number of
kids accessing the Internet from home has grown from 15 percent to 68
percent. Of the 46 million children ages 7 to 17 living in the United
States, 77 percent live in homes with a personal computer and 90 percent
use a computer at school. Despite this tremendous growth in Internet
use, efforts are still emerging to assess how and whether information
and communications tools actually help children and young adults succeed.

“The Digital Opportunity study found that digital tools are now helping
kids in a number of ways, including managing their chronic health
conditions, improving their educational achievement, and enhancing their
job skills,” said Wendy Lazarus, lead author of the report and
Co-President of The Children’s Partnership. “Computers and the Internet
are the 21st century’s gateway to opportunity for children.”

According to the report, while digital tools are enhancing successful
outcomes for young people, they are also seriously disadvantaging those
young people without access and the skills to use them. (See below.)
However, the report also found that when low-income children do have
these tools, they use them to gain opportunities for themselves at
higher rates than wealthier young people.

“We no longer have a computer gap—we now have an opportunity gap for
millions of America’s children,” said Lazarus. “This disparity is of
increasing concern as digital tools become the way to help young people
succeed in various areas of their lives.”

Following are highlights from the report which also includes
recommendations for action. A full copy of the report can be found at
www.contentbank.org/DOMS.

· Digital opportunities are reaching U.S. children today in all
four key areas, with opportunities most widespread in the education
arena. For example, more than half of children ages 7 to 17 use a home
computer to complete school assignments, and public schools are almost
universally connected to the Internet.

· There is a digital opportunity gap for low-income and some
ethnic minority children. For example, 77 percent of children ages 7 to
17 from higher-income households (more than $75,000 annually) use a home
computer to complete school assignments compared to 29 percent of
children from households earning less than $15,000 annually. Also,
white and Asian American children ages 7 to 17 are much more likely to
use a home computer for word processing or desktop publishing (45
percent and 41 percent) than Latino (23 percent), African American (22
percent) or Native American (21 percent) children.

· When access is available to low-income and disabled youth,
information and communications technology (ICT) is beginning to level
the opportunity playing field for them. For example, young adults who
identified themselves as “lower class” are slightly more likely than
others to visit a doctor or clinic because of information they obtain
online. Also, ICT devices, such as voice recognition devices, screen
readers and special keyboards, can help the more than four million young
people ages 5 to 20 who live with a disability to learn, work and live
more independently.

Home computer and Internet access has become a prerequisite to
children fully realizing digital potential. Some of the most severe
disparities facing low-income and ethnic minority children were clearly
a function of limited access at home to computers, the Internet and
high-speed connections.

· More research is needed to further explore the wide range of
issues related to digital opportunities for children. For example, more
research is required to determine if children with special needs and
disabilities are receiving the digital opportunities they need, and how
ICT is being used to help children prepare for college, find appropriate
colleges and obtain financial aid.

Support for the Digital Opportunity research was provided by the Annie
E. Casey Foundation, though the conclusions are solely those of The
Children’s Partnership. The Atlantic Philanthropies, Verizon, and
GraphicMail provided support for the design, printing and dissemination
of this report.

The Children’s Partnership is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan child
advocacy organization with offices in Santa Monica, CA and Washington,
D.C. We undertake research, analysis, and advocacy to place the needs
of America’s over 70 million children and youth, particularly the
underserved, at the forefront of emerging policy debates. Since 1993,
our work has focused on securing health coverage for uninsured children
and working to extend the benefits of technology to all children and
their families For more information or to schedule an interview with the authors,
e-mail DOMS@childrenspartnership.org.
Learn more about The Children’s Partnership: www.childrenspartnership.org Laurie Lipper
> llipper@childrenspartnership.org
> 202/429.0033