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From talking with Latino parents and parents in two low-income Anglo neighborhoods, we have gained insights about why they feel disenfranchised from school settings. In order to include such parents in the educational conversation, we need to understand the barriers to their involvement from their vantage point, as that of outsiders. When asked, these parents had many suggestions that may help educators re-envision family involvement in the schools.

What most people don't understand about the Hispanic community is that you come home and you take care of your husband and your family first. Then if there's time you can go out to your meetings.

Diverse linguistic and cultural practices. Parents who don't speak fluent English often feel inadequate in school contexts. One parent explains that “an extreme language barrier” prevented her own mother from ever going to anything at the school. Cultural mismatches can occur as often as linguistic conflicts. One Latino educator explained that asking young children to translate for their parents during conferences grates against a cultural norm. Placing children in a position of equal status with adults creates dysfunction within the family hierarchy.

The general belief, supported by many of Putnam’s cited studies, is that people are less connected or engaged in their communities.  The example, highlighted by Putnam’s title, is that while more people are bowling in America, fewer belong to bowling leagues.  The concern is being less connected may lead to loneliness and other issues.

The unusual move comes as several U.S. cities elbow for a spot in Google's new "Fiber for Communities" program. The Web giant is going to install new Internet connections in unannounced locations, giving those communities Internet speeds 100 times faster than those elsewhere, with data transfer rates faster than 1 gigabit per second.

Google declined to comment on whether it's taking the whole "Google, Kansas" thing seriously.

The Wired for Wireless? Summary Report1 uses the term “Digital Inclusion” to denote the ability of everyone to have access to broadband and the related information technology.  Specifically it states:  “Digital Inclusion means that everyone — regardless of who they are or where they live — can participate in and take advantage of the economic, educational, health, and civic opportunities afforded by broadband and related information technology

The federal government has taken the position that broadband Internet is the job of the private sector

They've become so used to this informal language, that they cannot write formally when they need to.

If you look at texting as a bad thing towards talking and ruining face to face communication skills, then lets take a look at that. If they're texting you, but won't talk to you face to face, maybe they haven't had very good confrontational skills to begin with, maybe that person wouldn't be talk to you at all if he/she didn't have texting as a way to talk to you.

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Other responses that netted some notice were that newspapers contained better or more detailed information than they can get elsewhere, while some older readers said that newspaper reading had become a habit

Older users said they looked in newspapers for community and regional general and business news and for obituaries.