Katz Vikki S, Gonzalez Carmen, Clark Kevin
Department of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey;
Department of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and.
Pediatrics. 2017 Nov;140(Suppl 2):S132-S136. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758R.
Children growing up in the United States today are more ethnically and racially diverse than at any time in the nation's history. Because of rising income inequality, almost half of the 72 million children in the United States are also growing up in low-income families, with immigrant and children of color disproportionately likely to be within their ranks. Children in low-income households are more likely to face a number of social challenges, including constrained access to the Internet and devices that connect to it (ie, digital inequality), which can exacerbate other, more entrenched disparities between them and their more privileged counterparts. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics' new guidelines encourage clinicians to reduce children's overexposure to technology, we argue for a more nuanced approach that also considers how digital inequality can reduce low-income children's access to a range of social opportunities. We review previous research on how digital inequality affects children's learning and development and identify areas where more research is needed on how digital inequality relates to specific aspects of children's developmental trajectories, and to identify what interventions at the family, school, and community levels can mitigate the adverse effects of digital inequality as children move through their formal schooling. On the basis of the evidence to date, we conclude with guidelines for clinicians related to supporting digital connectivity and more equitable access to social opportunity for the increasingly diverse population of children growing up in the United States.
如今在美国长大的儿童，其种族和民族多样性比美国历史上任何时候都要高。由于收入不平等加剧，美国7200万儿童中近一半是在低收入家庭中长大的，移民和有色人种儿童在这些家庭中的比例尤其高。低收入家庭的儿童更有可能面临一系列社会挑战，包括使用互联网和联网设备的机会受限（即数字不平等），这可能会加剧他们与条件更优越的同龄人之间其他更根深蒂固的差距。尽管美国儿科学会的新指南鼓励临床医生减少儿童对技术的过度接触，但我们主张采取一种更细致入微的方法，该方法还要考虑数字不平等如何减少低收入儿童获得一系列社会机会的机会。我们回顾了以往关于数字不平等如何影响儿童学习和发展的研究，并确定了在哪些领域需要更多关于数字不平等如何与儿童发展轨迹的特定方面相关的研究，以及确定在家庭、学校和社区层面可以采取哪些干预措施，以减轻随着儿童接受正规教育数字不平等所产生的不利影响。根据迄今为止的证据，我们最后为临床医生提供了相关指导方针，以支持数字连接，并为在美国成长的日益多样化的儿童群体提供更公平的社会机会。
