Cultural Equity:
Race, Class, and Language
Class, race, ethnicity, original language
as well as family structure are all variables that can affect
children's access to computers.
Class: Children from more affluent
homes are more likely to have computers at home. As a result, they
are often exposed to a greater variety of software activities and
have more opportunities to interact with adults around computer
games. It may make sense, therefore, to create special turns for
those children whose only access to computers is in the classroom.
It also may be important to make sure that children who only have
school access get opportunities to teach children who are generally
more familiar with computers something new about the computer, so
they are not always in the position of learning from their more
affluent peers.
Race and ethnicity: Some of the
software used by children may portray an almost exclusively white,
middle class world. Most producers of children's software make some
effort, but it is important to make sure that the holidays represented
in the software, for instance, include not only mainstream Christian
celebrations. If some of the children's cultures are not represented
in the computer program, it may be better to make celebratory cards
and posters by hand rather than to privilege those of the mainstream
culture found in the computer.
Language: Children for whom English
is not their first language may not be familiar with all the idioms
used in software programs. Children can learn English language skills
from playing with computers, as they can from listening to stories
and watching videos. Teachers have to make sure, however, that children
with language difficulties understand the instructions and rewards
offered by the computer so they have the same opportunity to develop
skills and enjoy their own mastery as children whose first language
is English.
Family structure: Not all children's
families are made up of a mother, a father and siblings. Teachers
have to make sure to include all children and not to make children
with different family structures feel disadvantaged. Some teachers
do not make Father's Day cards on the computer with their children,
for instance, but make "Someone Special" Day cards instead, because
they know that some of their children do not have fathers. They
discuss family structure with their children and arrive at a more
equitable definition of family, as the people who love and take
care of each other, which could be any combination of adults and
children, including single parents, same-sex parents, grandparents
as well as other friends and relatives.
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