We all know that praise for students can profoundly influence their educational attainment. In addition, communication home from a teacher also means parents take pride in their child’s achievements, feeling a sense of accomplishment or validation in their parenting skills. Especially, with some parents we work alongside, who feel they have previously been judged by others, especially those in authority.

A child’s success at school or otherwise, can reinforce a parent’s belief in their ability, leading to a multitude of additional outcomes for them individually.

So, imagine your child has had 12 emails home in one term. Positive messages about their effort in class, their willingness to help others and the attention they put into their work.

Imagine never reading these simply because you have no access to your emails. All that magic impacting personal confidence and esteem, simply going to waste because you aren’t online!

This is the reality in the communities we work in. When the only access to digital is an out-of-date phone that is far from smart. Or an email address that was created about 15 years ago to sign up to Facebook and the password that has long been forgotten.

Our relentless push to move online results in those of the other side of the digital divide not only missing out on job opportunities, access to healthcare and more cost-effective purchasing power; but it stops families like Dee’s from thriving.

We know from the emails finally discovered that her 13-year-old is going just fine, but what about her as a mother?

Then a parent sees their child’s success as a reflection of their own values, efforts, and sacrifice; it bolsters their self-esteemand means they walk that little bit taller. 

There are so many reasons why we need to take urgent action to #FixTheDigitalDivide and here at Starting Point we actively support Good Things Foundation’s call to action.