Who cares if Whites are ahead in Internet access?

You've probably heard plenty about a recent government report that found blacks and Latinos are falling behind whites in the all-important statistic of household Internet access.

There's no easy explanation for this disparity, as the Commerce Department compared families with similar incomes. But the reason this cultural competition has attracted so much attention is clear: White folks are the ones who think it's a race.

We blindly assume that families with Internet connections at home will produce happier, more capable children than those forced to muddle through without one. But it's equally possible that children who aren't surfing their evenings away have found a better way to spend their time.

Schools and parents certainly need to prepare children for a future that will demand Internet literacy, But before we start saying that blacks and Latinos are on the short side of a "digital divide," Net-connected Caucasians should examine why they believe their side of the tracks is so much better.

The Commerce Department found that while increasing numbers of black and Latino households are wired to the Internet, whites are nearly three times as likely to have a Net-connected computer in their houses. The disparity shrinks somewhat when families with similar incomes are compared, but it's still significant. Moreover, the connectivity gap separating white households from those of blacks and Latinos widened last year by nearly 50 percent.

"The report provides evidence that the digital divide between certain demographic groups and regions of our country continues to persist and in many cases is widening significantly," Commerce Secretary William M. Daley wrote in a letter accompanying the study. "We should be alarmed by this news."

Or we could ask ourselves why the government is so worried about what sort of high-tech gear we've got in our homes. While President Clinton and Congress are rightly concerned about access to the Internet at schools and libraries - where minorities also lag behind whites - they shouldn't make it sound like depriving kids of a Net-connected home computer amounts to child abuse.

The Internet, like most technologies, presents parents with a mixed bag of benefits and potential pitfalls. A Net-connected PC in the family room or den allows kids to retrieve educational information from faraway places and hone computer skills that are sure to come in handy later in life.

But most of the kids I know are more interested in using the Net to play games, send instant messages to friends and download free music. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but these activities aren't the sort usually encouraged by government programs.

Net connections also invite well-publicized problems with pornography, hate speech and personal privacy into the home. While teachers and librarians can be expected to set appropriate use policies and to police the PCs under their watch, it's easy to see why parents might not want this job themselves.

The Commerce Department's report makes families without Net connections sound about as helpless as the Flintstones in a "Star Wars" movie. But I've heard from reliable sources that these people, whatever the color of their skin, are capable of paying their bills, putting food on the table and raising kids who won't necessarily end up on Jerry Springer's show.

This assumes, of course, that schools and libraries are set up to teach children about computers and the Net. While this isn't always the case, private industry grants and government programs like Clinton's much maligned "e-rate" - which provides equipment and Net access for schools and libraries - are making it more likely that most children will get the education they'll need to compete in tomorrow's economy.

In case you're wondering, I'm as white as they come. I've got a Net-connected computer at home, and someday my kids will have one, too. I think the Internet is a great educational tool, and I want my kids to be able to use it whenever they please. But I can't see the sense in declaring a national emergency because other families, for one reason or another, choose to spend their money elsewhere. (I know my wife wishes I would.)

I can't explain why low-income white families are more likely than low-income minorities to find room in their limited budgets for an Internet connection at home. Perhaps the idea of becoming a pasty-faced Net geek feels more comfortable to those of us with naturally pasty faces. Then again, it probably has more to do with cultural differences that I won't pretend to understand.

But I do know better than to assume that people who don't share my passion for new technology are wrong - or worse yet, disadvantaged. The federal government would be wise to realize that people who don't surf the Net aren't necessarily washed up.

To contact syndicated columnist Joe Salkowski, you can e-mail him at [e-mail] or write to him c/o Tribune Media Services, Inc., 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611.