COBDEN (WSIL)--Students at Cobden Junior and Senior High School started a lesson plan: what parts of the country do not have adequate access to internet?
It did not take long for students to come to the conclusion, Union County was a huge dead zone.
"Where I live, I get little to no internet. And I feel like everybody should get the same amount of internet. Because internet has become such a vital part of our lives. If we don't have it, then it's chaos," said Cobden senior Kennedie Marks.
Many students decided to take action.
"They realized a great thing would be to reach out to our lawmakers and ask that Union County Schools be put on their radar," said Cobden High School's Social Science teacher, Jaime Nash-Mayberry.
The students in the Cobden Civics classes want to let lawmakers know there is a problem in their areas.
"When my fellow classmates can't take notes and watch a Google Meet at the same time, I think there's an obvious issue there. So we are writing these letters to make some noise and hopefully get some lawmakers attention," said Cobden senior Aubrey Fisher.
One student points out, even if it looks like there is good access in an area, that may not be the case.
"We have, in our civics class, looked at maps trying to see where the good zones are, where the bad zones are for internet connection, and my house is directly smack dab in the middle of what's supposed to be one of the best zones. And I still can't do online classes at home," said Cobden senior Victoria Bittle.
And even though many students writing letters are not even old enough to vote, they believe their voices need to be heard.
"We are the ones that are going to be suffering the consequences, for lack of a better word, of this limited internet access. With our future job prospects, how our education in this current age translates to our progress later on. So I think it's really important to listen to us because it's, again, a matter of our future," said Fisher.
Cobden High School students are joined by AJ High School and Shawnee Junior-Senior High School in the campaign.
This Friday, those letters will be sent to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, state and US Illinois senators and Illinois Representatives.
