1,000 signatures reached
To: Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Delete The Digital Poverty Divide
We want the Government to encourage organisations to incorporate ‘Digital Poverty’ in their charitable giving strategy.
Through education and awareness on the issue of Digital Poverty, we believe the Government could have a lasting impact on changing this problem in our society.
The problem with Digital Poverty is quite extensive, ranging from lack of technology (devices), adequate skills to be able to use the technology and consistent access to an internet connection. We want you to work with our organisation and organisations like ours, who up skill young people and work to ensure their basic needs are met.
We are asking organisations with previously loved and no longer needed tech device(s) that would help a young person to get online.
This could be an organisation who is upgrading their technology, or a company who is letting go of an older model, who has 2 or 3 devices where one could suffice, or even a family that has 2 or 3 old devices at home that work and are no longer used.
We need you to help us to delete the digital poverty divide.
Through education and awareness on the issue of Digital Poverty, we believe the Government could have a lasting impact on changing this problem in our society.
The problem with Digital Poverty is quite extensive, ranging from lack of technology (devices), adequate skills to be able to use the technology and consistent access to an internet connection. We want you to work with our organisation and organisations like ours, who up skill young people and work to ensure their basic needs are met.
We are asking organisations with previously loved and no longer needed tech device(s) that would help a young person to get online.
This could be an organisation who is upgrading their technology, or a company who is letting go of an older model, who has 2 or 3 devices where one could suffice, or even a family that has 2 or 3 old devices at home that work and are no longer used.
We need you to help us to delete the digital poverty divide.
Why is this important?
We live in an ever advancing technological world; without consistent access to devices that work and have access to the internet, a young person's education, development and opportunities to learn are adversely impacted.
Would you consider a young person for a job if they brought in a hand written CV instead of applying online?
Digital access is now one of the basic necessities, like food, shelter and an education!
All young people have the right to the basic equipment and tools to allow them a fair chance to succeed and not be left behind.
Digital poverty in young people exists where a person doesn’t have access to the online world and therefore doesn’t have access to the vast amount of information and opportunities that exist within it.
An estimated 11.7 million (22 per cent) people in the UK are without the digital skills needed for everyday life; 9 million (16 per cent) are unable to use the internet and their device by themselves; and 3.6 million (seven per cent) are almost completely offline. Basic digital literacy skills are needed by every citizen to become ‘digitally literate’ to participate fully in an increasingly digital society. - ‘Tackling the digital divide. ‘House of Commons, 4 November 2021
Digital poverty has increased since the coronavirus pandemic.
It has also been shown that the lack of access to suitable devices or software, reliable and affordable connectivity, suitable learning spaces has affected a higher proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) learners.
In a young person, it can result in a poorer education, poorer health, increased loneliness, isolation, an adverse effect on job prospects and even a lower life expectancy.
The impact of digital poverty is that it intensifies the class divide keeping the poor in a cycle of poverty with no means of escape.
This cause is important because after lockdown we saw the effects on young people without access to devices and the effect it had in their mental health as a result.
The impact of the pandemic on learners’ mental health has been considerable with a significant increase in requests for mental health support reported by the providers we spoke to. Mental health issues are impacting learners across the board including those from more affluent backgrounds. Figures show15 that as many as 10 million people in the UK, including 1.5 million children, are thought to need new or additional mental health support as a direct result of the pandemic. However, we know that the pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on BAME groups who have suffered a “triple whammy of threats” to their mental health, incomes and life expectancy16. Children and young people from BAME backgrounds are showing greater increases in depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts than white peers during Covid-19 pandemic and Black males are more than twice as likely to experience mental health issues than their White counterparts.
Exploring the impact of digital and data poverty on BAME learners , Charles Hutchings and Marianne Sheppard, 2021
Would you consider a young person for a job if they brought in a hand written CV instead of applying online?
Digital access is now one of the basic necessities, like food, shelter and an education!
All young people have the right to the basic equipment and tools to allow them a fair chance to succeed and not be left behind.
Digital poverty in young people exists where a person doesn’t have access to the online world and therefore doesn’t have access to the vast amount of information and opportunities that exist within it.
An estimated 11.7 million (22 per cent) people in the UK are without the digital skills needed for everyday life; 9 million (16 per cent) are unable to use the internet and their device by themselves; and 3.6 million (seven per cent) are almost completely offline. Basic digital literacy skills are needed by every citizen to become ‘digitally literate’ to participate fully in an increasingly digital society. - ‘Tackling the digital divide. ‘House of Commons, 4 November 2021
Digital poverty has increased since the coronavirus pandemic.
It has also been shown that the lack of access to suitable devices or software, reliable and affordable connectivity, suitable learning spaces has affected a higher proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) learners.
In a young person, it can result in a poorer education, poorer health, increased loneliness, isolation, an adverse effect on job prospects and even a lower life expectancy.
The impact of digital poverty is that it intensifies the class divide keeping the poor in a cycle of poverty with no means of escape.
This cause is important because after lockdown we saw the effects on young people without access to devices and the effect it had in their mental health as a result.
The impact of the pandemic on learners’ mental health has been considerable with a significant increase in requests for mental health support reported by the providers we spoke to. Mental health issues are impacting learners across the board including those from more affluent backgrounds. Figures show15 that as many as 10 million people in the UK, including 1.5 million children, are thought to need new or additional mental health support as a direct result of the pandemic. However, we know that the pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on BAME groups who have suffered a “triple whammy of threats” to their mental health, incomes and life expectancy16. Children and young people from BAME backgrounds are showing greater increases in depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts than white peers during Covid-19 pandemic and Black males are more than twice as likely to experience mental health issues than their White counterparts.
Exploring the impact of digital and data poverty on BAME learners , Charles Hutchings and Marianne Sheppard, 2021
How it will be delivered
We plan to deliver the petition in person.
