March 30, 2005

According to new data from the Department of Education, the US public school system is now online at high Internet speeds.

Some 95% of US public schools have broadband Internet access, up from 80% in 2000, the National Center for Education Statistics reports.

Like US society in general, Internet adoption rates in the school system were rapid. In 1994, about 35% of public schools had Internet access. By 2002, the NCES reports, the figure had reached 99%.

The ratio of students per school computer with Internet access has declined sharply in recent years, falling from 12.1 students per computer in 1998 to 4.4 students per computer in 2003. And some 8% of schools have laptops available for loan to students.

Given the wide availability of Internet access—and the broadband capabilities of most schools—it is perhaps not surprising that students are accessing pornography and using peer-to-peer file sharing applications.

A survey of school technology decision makers in 2004 found that 39% cited students accessing pornography and 19% cited students accessing music file sharing sites.

The survey, commissioned by security solutions firm St. Bernard Software, found that 48% of the respondents estimated that their students spend more than two hours per week on the Internet during school hours.

Broadband access is more common in the US than most other countries, but Europe is rapidly gaining ground.

Source: eMarketer