America's Children & The Information Superhighway: May 1996

Report outlines impact of sweeping changes in technology on America's
children/Defines growing gap between technology haves and have nots

Santa Monica, CA--Sweeping changes in technology are having a broad impact
on America's children, altering how they learn and play and shaping their
future educational and economic success, according to a report issued
today by The Children's Partnership, a national research and action
organization on children's issues. Of particular concern: A growing gap
between groups of children with access to information technology and those
without.

These and other important conclusions are the findings of America's
Children & The Information Super Highway: An Update, a follow up to The
Children's Partnership's groundbreaking 1994 report on the impact of
technology on America's children. Recognizing that the technological
revolution is transforming important economic, social and civic aspects of
life in the United States, the Update summarizes changes that have
occurred since the original report, and outlines how changes in technology
are impacting children in the home, in schools and libraries, in the
community, and in the workplace of the future. The report also includes
The Children's Partnership's checklist "Ten Steps to Success for Every
Child," which provides concerned adults with the information neccessary to
make good decisions on behalf of kids as America moves forward into a new
information age.

Key findings of the report include:

*In the Workplace

New information technologies are profoundly changing the skills young
people need to learn to compete effectively in the changing job market.
60% of new jobs in the year 2000 will require skills currently possessed
by only 22% of new workers. These changes in the workplace have troubling
implications for poor children and their future economic success when you
consider the growing gap between America's technology haves and have
nots:

- 82% of high school students from affluent homes have access to computers
at home, compared to 14% of poorer high school students

- 62 % of schools with affluent students have access to the Internet,
compared to only 31% of schools with students from poor families

The lack of access to information, training and technology also has
significant implications for business. Currently, the lack of information
literacy costs American business an estimated $25 to $30 billion annually
in poor quality and low productivity.

*In Schools and Libraries

Schools and libraries offer perhaps the best hope of ensuring access to new
technologies for America's children. But only 21 % of libraries are
connected to the Internet. Schools have made some progress, with 50% of
schools now claiming Internet access, up from 35% in 1994. 9% of
instructional classrooms are now linked to the Internet, a three-fold
increase from 1994. While this progress is significant, it is important to
recognize that it is only a beginning. Very few schools provide Internet
access to classrooms and individual students. Schools also face very real
challenges in the further development of the use of new technologies.

*In the Home

Home-based information technology is the fastest growing part of the
information highway. 86% of parents believe that a computer is the most
beneficial technology product they can buy for their children. This belief
is driving far reaching changes in the home life of millions of children.
As of April 1995, 39% of households had personal computers, with 15% of
households planning to buy personal computers in 1996. In 1995, 18 million
households were online. Unfortunately, the gap between technology haves
and have nots is particularly evident in the home with 66% of households
with annual incomes above $60,000 having personal computers compared to
only 23% of households with incomes between $25,000 and $34,000.

*In the Community

The public is recognizing the possibilities that new technologies present
and is positive about the development of new innovations and high tech
tools. 89% of parents believe that computer skills are important to
educational success. New applications of technology for young people and
their families are being tried out in urban and rural communities across
the country. But there is also increasing concern about threats to
children in cyberspace- particularly access to obscene or violent
materials, or threats to personal safety from individuals encountered
online. Responses range from private sector efforts to control
objectionable materials, to the passage of legislation punishing purveyors
of "indecent" online materials. However, it is not yet certain which
approaches are legal and effective.

"Access to information technology and the knowledge and skill to understand
and use it are emerging as issues of tremendous importance to America's
children," says Wendy Lazarus, Co-Director of The Children's Partnership.
"The real threat to children is that millions are being left behind in the
technological revolution without access to the technology, training and
information resources that will determine their future educational and
economic success."

"This update analyzes the far reaching implications of changes in
technology from a too seldom used vantage point: how it impacts children,"
adds Laurie Lipper, also a Co-Director of The Children's Partnership. "We
hope it will build a greater awareness and knowledge of the impact of
changes in technology on children, particularly among business, community
and political leaders, and promote positive action on behalf of the needs
of America's children."

The new report also contains a checklist entitled "Ten Steps to Success for
Every Child." Its purpose is to promote a better understanding of the
technological needs of children and to help shape the public, private,
community and personal decisions that will be made about children and
technology as America addresses a new information age.

"America's Children & The Information Superhighway: An Update," is
co-authored by Wendy Lazarus and Laurie Lipper, Co-Directors of The
Children's Partnership, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan research and
action organization whose mission is to forward the interests of America's
children on emerging national issues. The Children's Partnership receives
funding from The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The California Wellness
Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, The
David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Streisand Foundation, Pacific
Bell, the California Community Foundation, Coalition of Community
Foundations for Youth, the Favrot Fund, the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation and
the Joseph Drown Foundation. Dissemination of the update is made possible
through grants from The Carnegie Corporation of New York and AT&T.

For further information or to receive a copy of the report contact The
Children's Partnership at (310) 260-1220. The report is also available via
email at CPReport@koco.com, or on the World Wide Web at
http://www.koco.com/CP/report.
 
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