Lack of access to computers, internet access, and tech trainingleaves many children at a lifelong disadvantage.
Im hoping this will change lives.
Access to computers and the internet is only the start.
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Developing computer skills early through classes is key, experts say.
Six teachers in Southeast Georgia middle schools are participating in the pilot program that began in August.
The teachers are getting training to use Unity, a cross-platform game engine.
Pew Research Center
They could actually make a living with the games they will learn in these classes.
He teaches 10-16 year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds the basics of computer technology.
They don’t even have a clue that the box sitting next to the monitor is the computer.
Robin Stern, Executive Director, Be Better Not Bitter, teaches a student about computers.Emily Kay
I told them to unplug the power from the computer, and they reached around behind the monitor.
Also essential, he said, are career skills, such as learning how to dress for interviews.
So many students come from disadvantaged backgrounds that dont have a chance to learn something like this.
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Alejandro Gonzalez, a former NPower student, credits the program with his current job in technology.
Gonzalez, now 20, was working as a janitor when he started the Npower program.
They would go over what to wear for professional attire, he added.
Good etiquette, such as what not to bring up at work, you know, like politics.
He landed a job as a lab technician where he now works.
Its opened up a new world for me.
Vaughns own background informs his approach.
He grew up on the south side of Chicago in a very poor neighborhood, he said.
He dropped out of high school in ninth grade, then later managed to graduate.
For Vaughn and Gonzalez, getting a technology education wasnt just a means to a higher wage.
It changed their lives.
