'App Gap' Is an Exciting New Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids
We've all fretted over the nutrition gap, and the achievement gap between rich and poor children. But there's a hot new gap in town: the app gap. Poor kids don't getting enough educational smartphone apps!
A new study by Common Sense Media shows that, while rich parents load their tiny children's iPads up with brain-boosting educational apps, poor parents don't even know what "app" means: half of families with incomes above $75,000 had bought apps for their kids, while just 1/8th of families earning less than $30,000 did, according to the New York Times.
Experts say this has bigger implications than a lack of Angry Birds prowess that could lead to later embarrassment on the schoolyard. From the Times
"The app gap is a big deal and a harbinger of the future," said James Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, which had 1,384 parents surveyed this spring for the study. "It's the beginning of an important shift, as parents increasingly are handing their iPhones to their 1 1/2-year-old kid as a shut-up toy. And parents who check their e-mail three times on the way to the bus stop are constantly modeling that behavior, so it's only natural the kids want to use mobile devices too."
Did your kids get the new App Gap 4S yet? We were all so into the gaps we already had—they seemed perfectly fine, you know? But this new one makes those old ones look so boring and useless! Look, the App Gap has voice-activated structural inequality!
