Members of ACORN say unaffordable internet rates are hurting kids from low income families because those kids need the Internet to do their homework and assignments.  That's why ACORN groups across the country held demonstrations Thursday to pressure the federal government to lower Internet costs.

Leeann Gates, the treasurer of ACORN Canada, says her family can't afford to have Internet access at home and that's affecting her daughter's grades.

"They post further education and help groups about homework and all this kind of stuff," she says. "To not have that Internet access at home is kind of denying her the right to have full access to education."

She says although some people may not see internet access as a necessity, it is increasingly important in what she calls the "media age."

Gates says telling a family to take their child to the library is not a real solution.

"You could have other children at home so who's paying for the babysitter while you take that one child to the library?," she said. "You can't have a screaming in a library."

Robert Fitzpatrick, chair of the Ottawa South branch of ACORN, says people with mobility issues may have problems getting to the library in the first place, and once they get there the number of computers is limited and so is the time they have to access the Internet.

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Article by Cassie Aylward for CFRA 580