Author's Note & Context:
This blog post explores the hidden digital divide among youth, even within shared spaces like sports and team activities. It highlights how access to technology and internet connectivity impacts young people's ability to participate equally, emphasizing digital inequality as a critical barrier to youth collaboration.
It was supposed to be a fun team-building workshop after our usual volleyball practice. Our coach wanted us to prepare a short presentation about teamwork to help us bond before an upcoming tournament. To make things more interesting, he challenged us to use an AI tool on our phones to help us organize our ideas and brainstorm.
The moment he finished explaining, almost everyone in the locker room instantly reached for their phones. Excitement filled the room as my teammates started talking about prompts, generating cool images, and organizing slides. But in the middle of all the chatter, I noticed one girl on our team staying completely quiet.
“Can I do it tomorrow?” she asked the coach softly.
At first, I honestly thought she was just tired from our intense training session. But then she pulled me aside and quietly admitted the truth: she had no internet connection at home, and she shared a single, outdated phone with her two younger siblings. While the rest of us were laughing and swiping through screens, she was staring at her sneakers, trying to calculate when she might get even ten minutes alone with a device.
We were standing in the very same sports hall, wearing the exact same team jerseys, and working toward the same goal, yet a silent digital barrier had already placed us on completely different starting lines.
My name is Elena Temelkovska. I am 15 years old, I live in Podgorica, Montenegro, and I am a UNICEF Young Reporter. I love volleyball because it teaches you that every single player matters. You quickly learn that a team simply cannot win if even one person is left behind on the court.
Standing in that locker room, I realized that the digital world should work the exact same way.
We talk so much about the digital future and all the incredible things technology can do to make learning faster and more creative. But experiencing that moment with my teammate made me realize a simple, harsh truth: digital progress is not actually progress if only some children can reach it. When technology is only available to those who can afford it, it doesn't solve problems – it just creates deeper divisions.
Access to the internet and modern devices shouldn't feel like a luxury or a prize for the lucky. It should be a basic bridge that connects all of us. But a bridge has failed if it only goes halfway and leaves some kids standing on the edge, looking at the other side.
In the end, we did what any real team would do. We huddled around after practice and helped her use one of our phones to finish the assignment. She did an amazing job, but as we walked home, I couldn't stop thinking about it. She is incredibly smart and talented, and she should never have to depend on the kindness or charity of her teammates just to get the same head start as everyone else.
If we want a future where every young person can truly thrive, we need systemic change. We need reliable internet, accessible devices, and proper digital education in our schools. Every child in Montenegro deserves to be on the same starting line, not just in sports, but in life.
