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US schoolgirls rely on Taco Bell internet in ‘digital divide’
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A photo of two girls so desperate
for internet access to do online schoolwork that they sat outside a
California Taco Bell fast food restaurant has spotlighted educational
disparity caused by the “digital divide.”
The image of the children, whose faces were covered with heart-shaped
graphics to protect their identities, caught fire on social media after being
shared on Twitter by state Senator Kevin de Leon.
The girls sat cross-legged on a concrete walkway using small laptop devices
as Taco Bell workers wearing face masks gaze at them.
The restaurant is in the agricultural community of Salinas, not far from
Silicon Valley.
“Two students sit outside a Taco Bell to use Wi-Fi so they can ‘go to
school’ online,” de Leon said in the tweet last week.
“This is California, home to Silicon Valley… but where the digital divide
is as deep as ever.”
He added that 40 percent of Latinos in the state lack internet access,
saying the school-aged generation deserves better.
In reply to an AFP inquiry, Taco Bell said the scene was a “tough reminder
of basic inequalities facing our communities” and that the owner of the
Salinas restaurant was looking into more ways to support students.
After seeing the Twitter post last week, Salinas school district officials
provided the family with a portable wifi device, according to spokesman
Richard Gebin.
The district is awaiting delivery of 2,500 more “hotspots” to give to
families, it told AFP.
“This is a huge step in bridging the digital divide in our school
community,” Gebin said.
“Our district has been doing everything we can to reach out to our
families, in regards to, technology.”
A GoFundMe campaign started by a local woman to help the two schoolgirls
and their family had raised more than $145,000 as of late Thursday.
“No kid should struggle to get educated,” a donor identified as Jose
Espinal said.
“All they need to be worrying about is to learn, the system and society
should provide the rest, we are failing to our younger generations people.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0913 hrs