Logo image
Sink or Swim: Virtual Life Challenges among African American Families during COVID-19 Lockdown
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Sink or Swim: Virtual Life Challenges among African American Families during COVID-19 Lockdown

Adaobi Anakwe, Wilson Majee, Kemba Noel-London, Iris Zachary and Rhonda BeLue
International journal of environmental research and public health, v 18(8), p4290
18 Apr 2021
PMID: 33919524
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084290View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology
This study explores African American parents' experiences with using technology to engage their children in meaningful activities (e.g., e-learning) during COVID-19 and its impact on family health. Eleven African American families were recruited through a local health department program from a rural Midwestern community to participate in semi-structured interviews. Majority of participants reported stresses from feelings of "sink or swim" in a digital world, without supports from schools to effectively provide for their children's technology needs. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of family-school collaborative engagement and empowerment. Digital technology needs to become part of our school education system so that technology use among African Americans is elevated and families protected against future outbreaks. Further research with a more diverse African American sample is needed.

Metrics

6 Record Views
17 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Logo image