Reimagining the digital native: Mexican children define connectivity, identity and creativity

Social science and humanities scholars (Fox, 2006; Haythornthwaite, 2007) suggest that many undereducated, poor and working class individuals have an interest in using new technologies to improve their everyday lives. Yet they are unable to articulate – without a technophilic vocabulary – how emerging hardware and software may better serve their interests or needs (Pierce, 2006). More specifically, new media research points to Cyberculture (Jenkins, 2006), online identity and social networks (Johns et. al., 2004; Monge and Contractor, 2003) or the economic and policy implications (Benkler, 2006) of the Internet on individuals, public and private industry. These research trajectories assume membership in the digital network society. Scholars agree that access is not limited to computer ownership, but extends to knowledge – one’s ability to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). They also recognize the importance of participation in online network communities. Mainstream membership in an ever-increasing digital network society presumes participation as a producer/consumer, yet minority populations – particularly Mexican youth – are merely passive users. 
While some of us live seamlessly in a state of post-global network, others struggle to understand how and why new and emerging technologies are important to their everyday lives. The most utopian notion of the digital age asserts that new and emerging technologies dislodge hierarchy and distribute power while creating social and economic opportunities for all. Underrepresented children, particularly those whose parents do not speak English fluently, are at a greater disadvantage than United States born racial minorities. Barillas and MacGillivray (2008) found that often immigrant children take on a parental role as language translator and financial bookkeeper. Digital literacy activities serve the family first by bridging cultural knowledge and household responsibilities. Such tasks put immigrant children at a disadvantage compared to their native English speaking peers who are using digital technologies to learn, play, create, socialize and participate civically. 
This paper outlines a case study from 18 months of participant observation with Mexican immigrant children and their families. Using critical cultural studies and qualitative research methods, I articulate how this minority population’s experiences converge or conflict with the ways in which digital network gatekeepers inscribe membership. One of the primary research questions was: how might the use of technology for a parent’s purpose stunt a child’s possibility to see beyond homework and house work? Conducting a digital literacy program for 4th and 5th grade Mexican children posed several pedagogical challenges. Ethnic, racial, social, national and linguistic [mis/under]representation may magnify the level of expectation, boundary, and judgment among participants, instructor and community leaders. This paper addresses these issues as well as why speaking of and to an underrepresented population coming to new technologies requires an appreciable level of exploration without expectation. Ultimately, communication instruction with a community-centered, public awareness focus forced children to examine their digital nativeness.