Stay-at-home advisories exposing digital divide in some communities

BOSTON — For weeks now, a global pandemic has forced people into their homes and pushed work and schoolwork online, exposing a digital divide in many places.

This new reality is a big problem for people who do not have high-speed internet access at home, as well as for people who have an internet connection that can no longer hold up under the stress of the whole family being home from school and work.

“Our internet here isn’t that stable,” Fitzwilliam, N.H. resident Will Hunter told Boston 25 News.

He home-schooled his three children even before COVID-19 forced the rest of the region to do the same. His wife relies on their internet as she works from home as well.

The increased strain on the internet is higher stakes when working from home is mandatory.

“It does cut out occasionally,” Hunter said. “If I lose internet, that’s not a big deal if I’m just checking email…if I lose internet where my wife is earning our income…it’s just not as simple as it is for some other folks.”

The Federal Communications Commission says the number of homes without any broadband internet access is 21 million. A number mostly made up of rural areas and communities of color.

The organization Broadband Now estimates the number is double that.

Neither stat counts people like the Hunters, whose connection doesn’t hold up to the current demands.

Back in Boston, the need in the city exploded once the school closure order took effect.

“I think it’s worth discussing the digital divide in the context of the coronavirus,” Mark Racine, Chief Information Officer at Boston Public Schools, said.

Surveys originally showed between 8,000 and 10,000 families needed digital assistance.

Since the closure, Boston Public Schools has distributed roughly 30,000 Chromebooks and up to 1,000 mobile hot spots.

Local cable providers have offered either free or $10-a-month basic broadband for those in need.

“The digital divide doesn’t start and end with hardware and broadband,” Racine added. “The next phase is where the real work happens, and that is, how do we get our students up to speed with how to use these in an academic environment?”

Racine and Hunter agree the real work will be bridging the digital divide and keeping people connected to reliable, high-speed internet long after COVID-19 fills our collective bandwidth.

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

- Boston Coronavirus Information

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