Children pose an interesting problem for the issue of computer access because the computer they use may be at home or school and, unlike adults, children have less control over these matters. "At school, students learn side by side on computers. But if most go home to a television while a few have a home computer linked to an international database will they be equally prepared to make educational and career choices?" (Cronin and Andrews 1993, E6)
The 1989 census data showed that homes with school-age children are more likely to have personal computers. The percentage of households with school-age children that had computers was 25.7 percent, as opposed to 11.4 percent of computer-owning homes that did not have children.
More recent data suggest that the number of computer-owning families is growing. A 1994 study by Link Resources reported that families were both the largest and fastest-growing market segment for personal computers, representing 54 percent of computer owners, a leap of 17 percent from the previous year (Computer Households 1995). Other studies confirm that households with children are more likely to have computers than households without children (Vittore 1994, 36).
Computer-owning families are buying software and hardware that gets them on-line. The Link Resources study showed that computer-owning families were more likely to buy high-end multimedia computers and modems. Those with higher incomes were likely to subscribe to on-line services as well (Computer Households 1995).
According to the census data for 1989, 46 percent of U.S. children used a computer either at home or school (1991, 1). Of all the demographic groups discussed so far, children, between school and home, had the highest percentage of access to a computer, according to this data. At school alone, 46 percent of children had access to a computer with private schools supplying greater access than public schools (1991, 1). A 1994 census survey compared computer access in schools in 1984 and 1985 with school computer access in 1992 and 1993. In the first set of years, 77.7 percent of U.S. schools had computers, for a ratio of 62.7 students per computer. In the second set of years, 97.4 percent of schools had computers, and the ratio was 12.2 students per computer (1994, 169), a statistic that shows enormous growth for computers in schools overall.
Still, some schools lack the resources to supply adequate personal computers for students, especially in Canada. "Schools are so strapped for cash that teachers told of dipping into picnic funds to buy modems and bringing in their own PCs for the students to use." (Kainz 1994a, F6). Consequently, the problem of haves vs. have-nots is being perpetuated, to a degree, by the school system. "To less fortunate students, the Information Highway is about as real as the yellow brick road to Oz" (Kantrowitz et al. 1994, 78).
Children fortunate enough to have access are able to accept and learn computer technology more easily than any other demographic group. A 1994 survey on computers in the home conducted by the Los Angeles Times Mirror Center for the People and Press found that, of households with a personal computer, 75 percent of children used it at least occasionally (Taylor 1994, 67). "These findings would indicate that today's children are becoming the first PC generation whose familiarity with and use of the machine as they grow older will have profound implications for the communications aspects of marketing" (Taylor 1994, 67).
For starters, children don't have the baggage of years of reading and being comfortable with print media. Computers have been a part of their experience from the start. In many schools, students are going on-line to get news and information for reports, and chatting electronically with other children all over the world (Pacheco 1994, G1). "Kindergarten through 12th-grade students are being introduced to a different world from the one their parents grew up in, one where boundaries are mere lines on a map and the term 'long distance' is a misnomer (Pacheco 1994, G1).
At least one network, theLINQ, has emerged in response to this young educational market. TheLINQ functions as a kind of filtered Internet server supplying only up-to-date educational materials appropriate for school-age children (Quality Computers 1994).
At home, children from families with the necessary income are going to extracurricular computer classes, computer camps and private tutors (Hale 1995b). Many parents start their children early in computer learning. "Starting as early as 3 -- when their hands barely fit the keys and their feet don't reach the floor -- the kids are learning everything from ABCs to spreadsheets" (Hale 1995b). Some wonder if this early training is effective. Others believe it is inappropriate, due to the ever-changing nature of computers and software and the fact that computer-using kids can be anti-social (Hale 1995b). Still others are afraid such intensive training for a select few will only worsen the problem of the information rich and poor in the future (Hale 1995b).