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Digital Opportunity for America's youth
While the Internet transforms the nature of
opportunity in the workplace, schools, and society, millions of
low-income young people and their families are not able to benefit from
the digital revolution. The goal of The Children’s Partnership's
program is to make sure that digital opportunities extend to young
people in every community, particularly those in underserved families
and communities.
Measuring Digital Opportunity
The Children's Partnership published a
year-long study, Measuring
Digital Opportunity for America's Children, that examines how
the Internet and other digital tools are changing opportunities for
young people. The study also analyzes the disparities among those
children with needed access and skills and those without. The project
launched the Digital Opportunity Measuring Stick, a new tool for
assessing progress, and a digital opportunity for youth agenda,
both available on TechPolicyBank.
Policies to Promote Digital Opportunity
Another aspect of our program is a multi-year information and education
program to promote state and local policies, as well as private-sector
practices, that increase young people's access to the benefits of the
Internet and other information and communications technology. Our
report Helping
Children Succeed: What's Broadband Got to Do With It? offers
ideas for how leaders can make broadband implementation a priority
for children. The video Community
Technology Programs Deliver Opportunities to Youth details why
access to quality technology and training matters for young people. See
www.techpolicybank.org for further information,
including policy models, data and statistics, and other relevant
information.
California Advocacy Program
Since the beginning of our digital opportunity program,
The Children’s Partnership joined with community leaders and
elected officials throughout California to deliver the promise of
technology to young people and their families in disadvantaged
communities. As part of a statewide coalition of 200 organizations
called the California Community Technology Policy Group, we
helped build a state-based advocacy model to effect public policy
changes and to accomplish tangible benefits for low-income
communities.
Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Americans
In 2000, The Children’s Partnership launched a new
area of research and advocacy by identifying the “online content
gap” between what’s needed and what’s available online
for low-income and other Internet users with limited-literacy and
English language skills. Visit www.contentbank.org to learn
more about this work.
Parents’ Guide to Children’s Safety Online
The Children’s Partnership is committed to helping
parents, regardless of education or income, guide their children safely
on the Internet. In conjunction with the National PTA and the National Urban League, in 1996 we published the
comprehensive Parents’
Guide to the Information Superhighway: Rules and Tools for Families
Online. A PowerPoint, titled A Parent's Guide to Online Kids, was also
developed in 2006 to provide additional information for use by
parents.
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AmeriCorps*VISTA Partner Organization