Is Internet Access Really Equitable?

    Growing up on the south shore of MAssachusetts, I was fortunate enough to access to high speed internet as well as other pieces of technology that helped me immensely. I was given a laptop my junior year of high school as well as had access to an iPad and cell phone. I then went off to college and was able to access their Wi-Fi with no problem and was able to complete all assignments through Canvas that I needed to as well as binge watch any show I wanted or play video games with friends. It was not until I was branching out into other parts of Vermont that I noticed that the luxury of high speed internet was not available to everyone. 

    This realization first hit when I visited my partners house of the first time. I did not ave any cellular service so I asked if I could be connected to their Wi-Fi. After I was connected to their Wi-Fi, I was thankful to be connected until I noticed that it barely worked. Our running joke became that the internet router was strapped to the back of the cow somewhere in their fields. This did not really bother me until the pandemic hit and I was staying there for the end of my school year at Saint Michael’s College and struggled to complete assignments since the internet would crash. I had a hard time attending classes/ meeting via zoom as the bandwidth was not strong enough to handle everyone on the server. Even though it could be annoying, I learned to just live with it and move on. 

    It then came time for me to move and research different companies in which I could get Wi-Fi in for my new apartment in central Vermont. I remember feeling overwhelmed because I did not know what companies reached my apartment and reached it well. Once I found a provider, I still did not know what type to get and how many megabytes I needed for what I wanted to do. It was completely overwhelming and humbling as I never had to pay for Wi-Fi before and it made me appreciate what I had at home as well as what others were able to get at their homes. This then led into bigger discussions with my friends family, who mentioned they struggled getting high speed internet because they did not have the fiber optic wiring near their home and it would have costed them thousands of dollars to have it installed. I continued to be thankful that I had working Wi-Fi but then started to feel bad for those who I new could afford better, but the resources were not available. 

     The issue of internet access really hit home to me when we had to go remote during my first year of teaching. When we had online classes, I felt bad as many of my students did not have any internet access or had limited access and could barley hear anything happening on Zoom due to their poor connectivity. My school did a lot to try and get hotspots and routers out to families, but I had many students doing class from their cars because they were using other local businesses or schools internet. This angered me because it really made me see how we were failing students as well as families who did not have access to what many would now consider as the basics. Many students fell behind not because  they wanted to, but because they did not have access to what their peers had. Many of them also did not have adequate technology to help them with their work. Some had working computer, others did not. Some had printers to help them in they benefited from hard copies, others did not. It really created a divide among the students who had access to internet and technology and could nots. We were then very fortunate that Vermont tried to help many of its residents by working around the clock to get more reliable internet available to residents. I remember hearing statements such as all Vermonters will have access to high speed internet, by the end of 2020/2021, but this still has not happened. 

    I am now facing the issue of potentially not having high speed internet soon, as I am moving to the same area my partners family in Northern Vermont. As we are fortunate enough to build our own apartment, I am still trying to figure out how we will have access to realize internet, as we are both educators who are working remotely towards our masters. It is absolutely critical that we have stable internet that can meet our expectations. We have have been researching different companies for idea, but many do not e trend their service that far out. I am also now hearing residents of that area saying they are supposed to be getting high speed internet soon but they do not know when, and its been a few years since the promise was made to us. This is extremely frustrating as our society is heavily influenced by our connection to the internet and social media, and that is still near impossible for many people in the state and around the world. I am hoping that this is something that becomes as easily accessible as going to get gas or go to the grocery store, as it is critical need in order for our society to move forward.