Lori Rasmussen

As we discussed the digital divide in class this week, specifically the section on those who segregate themselves by choice, I recalled an event that took place a few years ago at my children’s middle school during a “parents’ night” informational event. The teacher was explaining to parents where the students might look online for additional resources to help them master the material they’d be learning in class.

For background, we live in a large suburban school district in a major metro area. It is one of the highest performing districts according to standardized tests, and has one of the lower poverty rates among schools in Oklahoma. The district allocates significant resources to technology.

That is why it surprised me when one of the other moms raised her hand and said that those resources would not help her children because they were not allowed to use the internet. They did not have cell phones, she boasted (a rarity among students of this age at this school), nor they did not have a computer or internet access at home. The teacher kindly reminded the mother that there is internet access in the school’s media center and also at the public library should the child choose to look there.

I suspect that this particular parent was keeping her children away from the internet in order to “protect” them. If those quotation marks make me sound like I’m being a little judge-y, well, I probably am. I thought to myself at the time that this woman was doing her children zero favors with her approach.

To be sure, every parent has heard all the nightmare stories about online bullying, child predators, sexting, and on and on. Those things do happen, and they are terrifying. We must teach our children to be safe. I speak with my children frequently on this topic. My younger daughter is not on the Internet yet unless she is supervised.

The reality is that we live in a world where you can’t even apply for most jobs without the internet. It’s a digital world, and we parents must face it. We cannot let tech fear rule our lives. Raising one’s children in the digital dark is like moving them to another country and refusing to let them speak the local language. They will need tech skills at some point. Would it not be safer to discover together how to use it appropriately and wisely than to pretend it doesn’t exist and be unprepared?

I cannot however tell this woman how to raise her kid. That’s her business. A year or so after this event took place, our school district launched a pilot project aimed at getting Chromebooks in the hands of some of its ninth graders. That initiative has continually been expanded, and this year will include all juniors — so that’s my child and most likely hers too. The district recently sent out an invitation to parents to attend a special back-to-school session where they could learn what a Chromebook is. (I already know, thanks!) I wonder if that mom has changed her position since that night; I wonder how that choice is impacting her and her child right now and will continue to do so in years to come. I wonder if maybe the kid will go off to college and “rebel” by becoming a YouTube star.

Or maybe I’ve got this all wrong and she’s at home blissfully watching Matlock re-runs on VHS while I’m slaving away over this masters program. Hey, at least I get cat videos! It will be an interesting future to watch one way or the other.