At the National Museum of American History in Washington, D. C., on Friday, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unfolded his agency’s “broadband plan for children and families.”

Expressing a clearly optimistic view about the benefits that technology spells for children, Genachowski – who has sought help from Elmo to promote broadband plan for kids – said that the country needed to ensure that the children are adequately educated and prepared for thriving in the 21st century scenario.

Along with stressing the need to provide requisite Internet access to children, Genachowski also said that Web safety was an equally important issue and it too necessitated due consideration by the authorities. Genachowski also emphasized the digital literacy and digital citizenship concepts which are increasingly being perceived as vital components to ensure kids’ safety and productivity online.

Focusing largely on the need to set a “clear and non-negotiable goal: every child should be connected to broadband,” the FCC Chairman said: “The benefits of digital learning aren't just theoretical. They're real. One study found that low-income children who use the Internet more at home had higher GPAs and standardized test scores than children who use it less.”

To further elaborate his viewpoint, Genachowski referred to a recent Kaiser study which had revealed that kids “consume recreational media 7 1/2 hours a day, and are consuming nearly 11 hours' worth of content.”