Digital Divides video response

What struck me the most out of the video was the trend of specialization at a very young age. Some of the students in the video were expected to master certain career skills before they even graduated high school. The "Tech High" seemed like a great place to become prepared for the work force at first, but after seeing the film I realized the students missed out on many things they would have learned in a normal high school. The first thing I thought they missed out on was having to learn to interact with many different types of people. At "tech high" they worked with kids that were pretty similar to themselves. Not being exposed to many different types of people may prevent career advancement in the future. The second was not being able to participate in normal high school sports and clubs. When I look back on some of the things that made me who I am today, it is really hard to ignore the athletic teams and clubs I was apart of. They taught me to be competitive and team oriented. Finally, as it was mentioned in the movie, the students of "tech high" were not as advanced in English and other subjects. Although the high school clearly made them technologically savvy, I think they are not as well rounded as equally intelligent students at a normal high school.

When I tried to figure out why some of the students in the video failed, and other succeeded, the first thing that came to mind was the differences in their families. Although all the families in the video wanted their kids to do well, Travis and the girl that worked at long john silvers were both at a disadvantage. Both were lacking a father figure in their lives, and had to take on more than the average student has to. Kep on the other hand, had a very supportive family that highly valued his education. The girl that was accepted to brown also had to successful, supportive parents. When I look back to see why I've made it to where I am today, it was not because I always had the newest computer, the best software, or that I knew how to use either. It was because I had two parents that were concerned with my education and my best interests. Had Travis or Ms. long john silvers had a more complete family, I think their lives would have been different.