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Viral Photo of Two Kids Using Taco Bell Wi-Fi for School Sparks Debate Over Digital Divide

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3 years ago

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  • Last week, a photo of two school-age girls doing their schoolwork outside of a Taco Bell in Salinas, California, went viral.
  • While many assumed that the girls originally only lacked access to Wi-Fi, a GoFundMe campaign later revealed that their family was set to be kicked out of their home because they couldn’t afford to pay rent.
  • As of Tuesday, that fundraiser has garnered over $130,000, far-exceeding its original goal of $20,000.
  • The situation has also stimulated debate surrounding the “digital divide,” and how to address it. It is estimated that 30% of K-12 students across the country lack access to the internet or a device capable of accessing it in their homes. 

Taco Bell Schoolwork Photo Goes Viral

A viral photo of two students using a Taco Bell’s Wi-Fi to complete their schoolwork has led to renewed attention around the “digital divide” and how the ongoing pandemic is exacerbating it.

The photo was first posted to Instagram on Wednesday. It shows two young girls in Salinas, California, sitting on a curb with laptops in hand as two employees approach them, likely out of concern for their safety. 

“Two students sit outside a Taco Bell to use Wi-Fi so they can ‘go to school’ online,”  Former California Senate President pro Tempore, Kevin de León, said Friday after sharing the photo on Twitter. “This is California, home to Silicon Valley… but where the digital divide is as deep as ever. Where 40% of all Latinos don’t have internet access. This generation deserves better.”

In the comments under de León’s tweet, a surge of people expressed interest in helping to provide a Wi-Fi router for the girls; however, some were concerned that the image might actually depict a form of child negligence. 

In fact, that photo attracted so much attention that it reportedly led to a welfare check, with Child Protective Services investigating the girls’ family for any potential child neglect or abuse. Ultimately, that investigation did not uncover any neglect. 

Over $130K Raised for the Girls’ Family

As more people reached out to help the girls in the photo, it was learned that their family didn’t just lack access to Wi-Fi at home. They were actually in danger of becoming homeless because their mother couldn’t afford to pay rent. 

Many of the details around the girls’ family have come from a woman named Jackie Lopez, who created a GoFundMe page for the family. Lopez said she originally wanted to start the fundraiser because these “dedicated little girls… didn’t want to miss out on learning due to the fact that they didn’t have internet access at home.”

On the fundraiser page, Lopez said the story touched her and that she made it her mission to locate the family, which she later did. 

According to Lopez, the girls’ mother, Juana, is a single mother and an essential field worker who picks berries. On her days off, Juana sells flowers on the side of the road. Lopez said Juana “doesn’t take a day off because that is a day she could be making a few dollars to provide for her girls.” 

“Upon meeting them and wanting to know what I can do to help, she started to open up to me,” Lopez said of Juana. “I asked her if I could get her girls a desk for distant learning and she mentioned there was no space in their home for that. She then said she shared a small bedroom with her 3 girls in the home she was living in. The same room she was going to be evicted from 3 days later on the 1st of September.” 

Lopez noted that Juana had been searching for a new home but had been unable to find one. 

After reaching out to her followers on Instagram, Lopez said she has been able to provide Juana’s daughters with items such as clothes, shoes, school supplies, essentials, and food. Additionally, Lopez said that support allowed her to buy the family a hotel room for a week while she and others help Juana search for a more permanent home.

The original goal of the fundraiser was set at $20,000. As of Tuesday, it’s raised that more than six times its goal, sitting at more than $130,000.

In an update on Monday, Lopez said that Juana has been set up with a new accountant to help manage her funds.

“The girls deserve it all and my heart is just filled with so much joy for this family,” Lopez said. “I can’t thank you all enough for making so many of their dreams a reality.”

In addition to that money, the school district Jauna’s daughters go to has also put out a statement saying it has now provided the family with a hotspot. 

Taco Bell Incident Highlights “Digital Divide”

While Juana’s family received an exceptional level of support, for many students and their families, this isn’t the case. Many will never go viral and will continue to struggle. 

According to a June study from Common Sense Media and the Boston Consulting Group, “15 to 16 million public school students across the United States live in households without adequate internet access or computing devices to facilitate distance learning.”

That’s 30% of all K-12 public school students. 

But not everyone is affected equally by the “digital divide.” It’s most pronounced in rural communities and households with Black, Latinx, and Native American students.

Southern states also have some of the largest K-12 divides within the country, with Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama showing the largest deficit by proportion. Other states like Texas, California, and Florida all have the largest gaps by population. Still, the report stresses that the “digital divide” is a problem in all 50 states.

Many of those concerns have been highlighted with the story of Juana’s daughters. 

“California is the technology capital of the world,” Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo told CNN. “This is an embarrassment.”

Alejo added that the embarrassment is compounded by the fact that Salinas is only 45 minutes away from Silicon Valley, a global hub of technology and wealth. 

“…we have such a huge divide that’s gone on for years, but now, it’s only amplified because of this pandemic,” Alejo said. 

“We know that there [are] thousands of other kids in a similar situation… there’s a lot of homes and a lot parents who don’t even know how to use computers or how hotspots work.”

See what others are saying: (KSBW 8) (Fox News) (CNN)

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Survey and Census Data Shows Record Number of Americans are Struggling Financially

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1 week ago

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May 23, 2023

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Americans are choosing not to pursue medical treatment more and more frequently as they encounter money troubles.

A recent federal survey shows that a record number of Americans were worse off financially in 2022 than a year prior.

Coupled with recent census data showing pervasive poverty across much of the country, Americans are forced to make difficult decisions, like foregoing expensive healthcare. 

According to a recent Federal Reserve Bureau survey, 35% of adults say they were worse off in 2022 than 2021, which is the highest share ever recorded since the question was raised in 2014. 

Additionally, half of adults reported their budget was majorly affected by rising prices across the country, and that number is even higher among minority communities and parents living with their children.

According to recent census data, more than 10% of the counties in the U.S. are experiencing persistent poverty, meaning the area has had a poverty rate of 20% or higher between 1989 and 2019. 

16 states report at least 10% of their population living in persistent poverty. But most of the suffering counties were found in the South — which accounts for over half the people living in persistent poverty, despite making up less than 40% of the population. 

These financial realities have placed many Americans in the unfortunate situation of choosing between medical treatment and survival. The Federal Reserve study found that the share of Americans who skipped medical treatment because of the cost has drastically increased since 2020. 

The reflection of this can be found in the overall health of households in different income brackets. 75% of households with an income of $25,000 or less report being in good health – compared to the 91% of households with $100,000 or more income. 

See what others are saying: (Axios) (The Hill) (Federal Reserve)

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Montana Governor Signs TikTok Ban

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2 weeks ago

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May 18, 2023

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The ban will likely face legal challenges before it is officially enacted next year. 

First Statewide Ban of TikTok

Montana became the first state to ban TikTok on Wednesday after Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed legislation aimed at protecting “Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”

The ban will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, though the law will likely face a handful of legal challenges before that date. 

Under the law, citizens of the state will not be held liable for using the app, but companies that offer the app on their platforms, like Apple and Google, will face a $10,000 fine per day of violations. TikTok would also be subject to the hefty daily fine. 

Questions remain about how tech companies will practically enforce this law. During a hearing earlier this year, a representative from TechNet said that these platforms don’t have the ability to “geofence” apps by state.

Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics, told the Associated Press that app stores could have the capability to enforce the restriction, but it would be difficult to carry out and there would be a variety of loopholes by tools like VPNs.

Montana’s law comes as U.S. politicians have taken aim at TikTok over its alleged ties to the CCP. Earlier this year, the White House directed federal agencies to remove TikTok from government devices. Conservatives, in particular, have been increasingly working to restrict the app.

“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” Gov. Gianforte said in a Wednesday statement. 

Criticism of Montana Law

TikTok, however, has repeatedly denied that it gives user data to the government. The company released a statement claiming Montana’s law “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people” in the state. 

“We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,” the company said. 

The American Civil Liberties Union condemned Montana’s law for similar reasons. 

“This law tramples on our free speech rights under the guise of national security and lays the groundwork for excessive government control over the internet,” the ACLU tweeted. “Elected officials do not have the right to selectively censor entire social media apps based on their country of origin.”

Per the AP, there are 200,000 TikTok users in Montana, and another 6,000 businesses use the platform as well. Lawsuits are expected to be filed against the law in the near future.

See what others are saying: (Associated Press) (Fast Company) (CBS News)

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How a Disney-Loving Former Youth Pastor Landed on The FBI’s “Most Wanted” List

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1 month ago

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April 24, 2023

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 “Do what is best, not for yourself, for once. Think about everyone else,” Chris Burns’ 19-year-old son pleaded to his father via The Daily Beast. 

Multi-Million Dollar Scheme 

Former youth pastor turned financial advisor Chris Burns remains at large since going on the run in September of 2020 to avoid a Securities Exchange Commission investigation into his businesses.

Despite his fugitive status, the Justice Department recently indicted Burns with several more charges on top of the $12 million default judgment he received from the SEC. 

Burns allegedly sold false promissory notes to investors across Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. The SEC claims he told the investors they were participating in a “peer to peer” lending program where businesses that needed capital would borrow money and then repay it with interest as high as 20%. Burns allegedly also reassured investors that the businesses had collateral so the investment was low-risk. 

The SEC says that Burns instead took that money for personal use. 

Burns’ History 

Burns began his adult life as a youth pastor back in 2007 before transitioning into financial planning a few years later.  By 2017, he launched his own radio show, The Chris Burns Show, which was funded by one of his companies, Dynamic Money – where every week Burns would “unpack how this week’s headlines practically impact your life, wallet, and future,” according to the description. He also frequently appeared on television and online, talking about finances and politics. 

The SEC alleges that he used his public appearances to elevate his status as a financial advisor and maximize his reach to investors.

His family told The Daily Beast that he became obsessed with success and he reportedly bought hand-made clothes, a million-dollar lakehouse, a boat, several cars, and took his family on several trips to Disney World. His eldest son and wife said that Burns was paying thousands of dollars a day for VIP tours and once paid for the neighbors to come along. 

Then in September 2020, he reportedly told his wife that he was being investigated by the Securities Exchange Commission but he told her not to worry. 

The day that he was supposed to turn over his business documents to the SEC, he disappeared, telling his wife he was just going to take a trip to North Carolina to tell his parents about the investigation. Then, the car was found abandoned in a parking lot with several cashier’s checks totaling $78,000

FBI’s Most Wanted

The default judgment in the SEC complaint orders Burns, if he’s ever found, to pay $12 million to his victims, as well as over $650,000 in a civil penalty. Additionally, a federal criminal complaint charged him with mail fraud. Burns is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. 

Last week, the Justice Department indicted him on several other charges including 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. 

“Burns is charged for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from clients in an illegal investment fraud scheme,” Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “Financial crimes of this nature can cause significant disruptions to the lives of those who are victimized, and the FBI is dedicated to holding these criminals accountable.”

His family maintains that they knew nothing of Burns’ schemes. His wife reportedly returned over $300,000 that he had given to her. 

She and their eldest son, who is now 19, told The Daily Beast they just want Burns to turn himself in, take responsibility for his actions, and try to help the people he hurt. 

“Do what is best, not for yourself, for once. Think about everyone else,” Burns’ son said in a message to his father via The Daily Beast. 

See what others are saying: (The Daily Beast) (Fox 5) (Wealth Management)

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