By Reina Hasting
When our electricity goes out, we notice it right away. A sudden silence comes over everything. The first thing some of us look for is our cell phone to make sure we still have a connection to the outside world.
Eventually, the lights come back on and everything feels normal again. What about when that silence continues and we don’t have a cell phone or access to the internet and we can’t leave our house or apartment? This is the feeling for many during the pandemic. Many families do not have a cell phone or access to the internet. Barriers such as not having the financial means or a lack of infrastructure play roles in limiting access.
Prior to the pandemic, affordability was a significant driver of households without internet or devices. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 “Current Population Survey,” 34 percent of households with children aged 3-18 and no internet cite affordability as the major reason for no connection. Now with the pandemic, it can be even more of a struggle to afford internet or devices.
Many areas have limited cellular signal to use for hot spot or device tethering in their homes. Tethering is when you use your phone’s mobile signal as a Wi-Fi network, then hook up a laptop or any other Wi-Fi-enabled device to connect to the internet.
At least 18 million individuals across the United States, including urban, rural and tribal communities, have limited or no access to high-speed broadband infrastructure, according to the Federal Communications Commission. For many, this is something we instantly learned in our community and across the state when the pandemic hit.
The internet provides opportunity for learning beyond the classroom, an open door to a wealth of knowledge and educational resources and another social world. During a time like the pandemic, the internet is essential for many things to function. It is a basic need for communication outside the home for education, health services, employment and businesses to survive. According to Pew Research Center, nearly nine of 10 Americans surveyed say having internet has been an essential or important tool during the coronavirus outbreak with 53 percent saying it’s been essential for them personally during the pandemic.
When COVID-19 restrictions first hit, businesses and schools looked to continue things remotely. However, in order for that to be effective, there needs to be an adequate internet connection at both ends. If one end is unstable or does not exist, there is no connection. In Alaska, about 31 percent (39,951) of students are without adequate high-speed connection, according to a Common Sense report, “Closing the K-12 Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning.” There are many people without internet, period, and we don’t know because they can’t go online to tell us.
According to information collected by Bright Futures Fairbanks, there are at least 225 families without internet impacting 265 students in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. The lack of internet access limits what people can do. It prevents people from having access to public services, to education, to jobs, to a chance in life in some cases.
As a Bright Futures USA affiliate, Bright Futures Fairbanks provides a framework to bring together existing community resources to meet the needs of children in the community. With hundreds of families in need of internet connectivity for virtual learning, Bright Futures Fairbanks is looking for agencies that are able to provide a warm space with free Wi-Fi. If your agency is already offering Wi-Fi, please let Bright Futures know by emailing Bernard Gatewood at only1bg@gci.net.
Reina Hasting is a coordinator with Extension’s Family Nutrition Program, which is administered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For questions, she can be contacted at rhhasting@alaska.edu or 907-474-2437.
