Closing the digital divide

With three children, I cannot imagine life -- or homework -- without a computer.

Forget word processing. The kids Google everything from how coefficients work to what happened on this date in history. (Thursday was the 50th anniversary of Sputnik's launch.)

Yet even in counties as wealthy as Wake, an estimated one in five households with children do not own a computer that works. Statewide, the number is one in four.

This is what is commonly called the digital divide -- the techno-gap between children whose families have a working computer and those who don't.

Bridging that divide is the mission of a local organization, the Kramden Institute, which will team with N.C. State University's computer science department to host something called a Geek-A-Thon this weekend.

Here's how it works:

The Kramden Institute collects used computers of recent vintage from businesses and individuals.

Computer science students at NCSU will retool those used computers to be distributed to families with children who don't have a working terminal.

In its three-and-a-half years of operation, the institute has refurbished and donated more than 1,500 computers. It started with a Durham focus but has expanded to Wake and Orange counties as well as Fayetteville and Fort Bragg.

This weekend, they plan to give away more than 200 fully loaded computers at Centennial Middle School in Raleigh.

Meredith Conder, part-time director of the Kramden Institute, points to a study out of the University of California at Santa Cruz linking access to a home computer with a 6 percent to 8 percent higher high school graduation rate.

Conder's most compelling data, however, are in the reactions of children and families who are selected by their schools for Geek-A-Thon giveaways.

Just last weekend, Conder said, a woman from Fort Bragg sent her daughter to Raleigh.

The mother had to work, but the aunt was happy to drive: The girl had been borrowing her computer for schoolwork for months.

"They were thrilled," Conder said.

Conder noted that the schools try to do what they can to accommodate children who don't have access to a computer at home.

And of course, there are computers available at public libraries. But there is a 30-minute time limit. The lines are often long.

And some children can't get to the library because their parents work the night shift or don't have transportation.

Having a computer in the home levels the playing field.

It also has a hidden benefit, Conder said. Parents or guardians are better able to communicate with their children's teachers about what is going on in the classroom.

With online data posted by the school, parents can follow their children's progress -- or lack thereof -- allowing them to expand on an educational tool that is almost as effective as a computer: nagging.

(For more about the Geek-A-Thon, or the Kramden Institute, visit www.kramden.org. They can always use more computers -- and geeks.)