This excellent Washington Post article, “Disconnected”, highlights the importance of the Internet for today’s young people, the ‘most digitally defined generation in human history‘, and how their lives are impacted when they are unable to afford access.

“The Pew Research Center reports that 88 percent of all American teens ages 13 to 17 own or have access to a cellphone, and most — 73 percent — have smartphones. Technology that was once considered a luxury is now viewed as necessity. But for some low-income families like DJ’s, these devices are still out of reach. Not having a phone or a computer compounds her other worries: the sense of isolation from her classmates, the struggle to keep up at school, the difficulty of finding resources that might offer academic or emotional help.”

Read the full article here.