Through the writing of this hypertext essay, I would like to research more on the observation of effects of different race and their use of the internet. Some race may use internet for certain purposes while others, may have limited access to internet and limited knowledge on the use of the internet. As mentioned in the first blog, I would like to tie this hypertext with the Affirmative Action order and talk about the pros and cons of it.
In the passage in The Computer Race Goes to Class by Sterne, he makes the overarching point that the lack of computers in certain areas of school hinder the students ability to prosper and get a thorough education everyone deserves in such an era where technology oversees people’s day to day life. While it is true that students do need a basic understanding of the functions of computer and internet usage in order to be successful in obtaining jobs or applying to colleges, younger students should not be one of the priorities in the list of people that should obtain computers.
The article argues that those of the minority race are at a greater disadvantage because students should have early access to computers so that later in life, using computers become second nature to them. While minority races not having access to computers could be detrimental, not every aspect of not owning a computer is harmful to their future. In fact, using computers at such a young age could be more harmful. With computers having variety of tools that fix mistakes for the user such as spelling and grammar checker, students could be at a disadvantage if they have no access to computers later in their life. An example of such is when my brother was in the third grade, he was given an assignment to write an essay on the computer. When I checked it over for him, the essay seemed to be acceptable for a third grade level with no spelling errors and simple grammatical sentences. However, when I had to grade a handwritten essay later on, I saw an enormous amount of spelling errors. With more computer usage acceptable to students at such an early age, I could see that students can only make such mistakes since they get less analogous teaching and more technological teaching. The argument is made that the racial inequality in regards to availability of computer access is one of the major problems that is hindering education of students. However, the article makes the quote from “Here Come the Microkids” in the 1982 edition of Time Magazine saying that though this particular student’s reading level is lower than the average level for his age, his computer skills are top notch. This could be used as the argument that learning how to use a computer is an easy skill and not necessarily something that takes a long time to use before being able to use them. As such, students at younger ages do not particularly need computers as they can learn at a later age such as middle school. Computer skills are crucial in order to live through the present technology era. However, computer skills can be learned at a later age. To make the method of distributing computers out to school more effective, businesses should give them out to higher level education facilities in poorer areas first before the younger students gain access to the computers. Before applying to a wide range of college my senior year of high school, I had no understanding as to why Affirmative Action was set in place, where colleges must have a quota on the different proportion of races that must be accepted into their college. This law would make it much harder for Asian males to get accepted into a college since only a certain proportion of Asian males could enter X college. However, after reading Nakamura and Chow-White’s Race After the Internet, I was able to make a correlation between internet accessibility and the reasoning for Affirmative Action being in place. With a great economic disadvantage for Native Americans, it is not a shock to see why they have the lowest probability of all the minority groups to hold an occupation in a professional occupation. This economic disadvantage, however, has a high probability of repeating as a cycle for generations to come since the newer generation does not have a path paved for them from the previous generation. In a time period where technology is the fastest growing industry yet Native Americans cannot easily gain access to this, information will surely bypass them, thus unable to be able to evolve along with the surrounding population in terms of technology. For them to be able to advance, education is essential in order to learn how to advance along with those around them. However, another challenge is faced for Native Americans as schools are too far for them. A statistic is given stating that from a class of 26 freshmen, only three were able to graduate. It is hardly a coincidence that so many students drop out of high school since the distance to school is too far, their family has financial burdens that the student probably helps with, and they do not have an adequate source of information to rely on. With this reason, I believe Affirmative Action was born. The United States government was thinking in favor of minorities who could not obtain the privilege of obtaining the resources that more well off students could. With those students not being able to access the internet, they would never have a chance at being able to enter a college due to their lack of knowledge the new era provides for the population that can access internet. By placing this law in, the government has helped even the playing field so that those of the minority group feel that they are getting aid and are not ignored. However, in regards to the professional field, though the data and number may suggest that those of the White race do not give the opportunity for the minority group to advance to a higher position, I believe that the main factor is their lack of ability to be able to withstand the task at the top of the ladder. Childhood education does set the pillar for higher education, but without the proper education, trying to pursue a field in a professional career path can only be next to impossible. The government does help in pursuing a higher level education through Affirmative Action, but achieving a career cannot be helped by the government, only through their own achievements. |