Internet gap for poorer families - pretty unacceptable IMO

They must have some expensive-ass internet.

if you want to see genuine poverty you should go to India. the poor people there do not have flat screen tellys and weigh 25 stone.
moreover India has well established community internet schemes, which allows the bright and enthusiastic poor children to acquire valuable skills.

these people need to club together and buy a computer with internet access and share the cost between maybe four or five families.

Libraries have computers for people to use for free?


Posted from TSR Mobile

I agree with the idea of frigging internet schemes!!

I also said 'relative poverty'. So, let's not bring up India etc, whole seperate issue.
Really cba with you anymore.

these people need to club together and buy a computer with internet access and share the cost between maybe four or five families. it would maybe involve giving up a pack of cigarettes a week or a six pack of lager.

That's what Google Loon will be for.

that is a splendid idea. a shame they chose an inappropriate name for it. why not call it "Google Village Idiot" or "Google Drool" ?

Libraries have computers for people to use for free?


Posted from TSR Mobile

my point was that if people can afford unnecessary & harmful indulgences then why should they not sacrifice them if they need to pay for something useful like their children's education ?

I was reading this story on the BBC that says 100,000 children's education is suffering because their families can't afford the internet access they need:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25729973

While I can believe this is happening in the poorer areas of the country, it's pretty unacceptable for this country to sit by and let that happen - it's a serious problem.

Isn't it crazy that the internet service providers don't just give it to these families?!

I'm not saying that they shouldn't make sacrifices, but there was still no need for that comment, it had nothing to do with the original question! It really annoys me when people get so enraged by the poor, even then working poor, having any pleasure in life. Because they're stuck in an awful situation, they must have the bare minimum to survive and that's it. But what is life without a few pleasures? Nothing,

That's what Google Loon will be for.

Why is it shocking that people with limited incomes don't purchase a superfluous luxury good? That seems very sensible.

The Internet is increasingly not a "superfluous luxury good" as at the top of this page. Within the decade it will certainly supersede the telephone as the main way of getting in contact with government agencies and companies - for all age groups. Internet access was recently proposed as a new universal human right.

What? Some families don't spend their money on anything but essentials. The idea of sharing is okay (although difficult to implement in practice, if you have four or five families with one or two children each that doesn't give each child access to a computer often and if they all happen to need access at the same time it's a nightmare and not much better than having no access at all).

As someone who didn't get access to the Internet until I was 18 and in my A2 year of A levels (we got Internet access on a usb, which was the most affordable way at the time) I can definitely say that the Internet access I had that year was partly the reason I got higher UMS marks in my A2 exams than in the previous year's exams. So many resources now are online, and to be able to access past papers, mark schemes, and critical discussion is needed for what the exam boards expect of you. Although I'm a huge advocate for books and learning without the stimulation of a TV/laptop all the time, the Internet just can't be rivalled now. This is an issue for the government to sort out, I believe. The government, and local councils, have shut so many libraries recently so that is no longer an option for children needing to research their homework on a computer but they can't just leave it that way. Equal opportunities for all with regards to education shouldn't just take the form of university fee loans and university grants/scholarships, because poorer families are moving further and further away from the resources needed to successfully complete secondary school and therefore some students are missing out on even getting to a point in their education where they can get to university.

I don't think it's down to the Internet providers to give free access, because that would be almost like asking Birds Eye to give free fish fingers to poorer families too. Providing the Internet costs a lot of money, especially in maintenance, improvements and call out fees, so it can't just be seen as something that could be freely given without having a huge impact on the provider's profits and business sustainability. I would like to see more discounts, or perhaps the option to have access to the Internet on shorter contracts (12 months is a long time to commit for if your income is unsure, a weekly contract or the option to pay for a summer's worth of Internet would be wonderful). Maybe also more USB access that cuts out the need for families to pay extortionate amounts in line rental and VAT.

I didn't have a computer til about 14/15. My mam was a single mum working MW, we had nothing spare.

I just went to the library, simple as. I looooved the library. Used to go there for hours to do work and wait for mam to finish work.

I would love it if our internet disappeared for a while so my little sister would have to go to the library it was like ToysRus for me...

I would love it if our internet disappeared for a while so my little sister would have to go to the library it was like ToysRus for me...

i did not mention fags. that would be completely politically incorrect.