Digitally Excluded

Hello! My name is Michael and I have been made redundant since April 2017 from my job as a chef for a local public house. Since losing my job, I have been getting welfare for a few years in which I get £409.89 to live on each month. To say it's been difficult living on this amount of money is an understatement and I'm so keen to get out of the rut I'm currently in right now. Having no internet in a house I'm living with my grandmother Pippa is difficult because I'm unable to stay updated with my journal updates for the job centre or access my emails and even stay in touch with friends and family. My old iPhone 6S is still going but only just on a cheap SIM-only contract which costs £10 a month. The only internet I can access is in my local library or on my phone, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the library has closed which has meant that I've become more disconnected with my friends and work coach. Previously, I used to have a laptop prior to losing my job, which would have been my lifeline to still engaging with friends and family. After being made redundant, my laptop had decided to die, leaving me with limited internet access at best. Even the internet on my SIM-only contract on my phone barely lasts half a month, which means I'm disconnected from everyone when my allotted data allowance runs out. Most of my friends don't even call me but at least I have 500 texts which is not much, but its better than nothing. I would love to have any job that gets me out the house, I'm not fussy and enjoy working in a team. Can you help me become a digitally inclusive member of society? [[Continue the game]] [[I'm not playing anymore]]

Excellent! Thank you so much. As I have been living without home broadband for what seems forever, it's meant that trying to find a job has been next to impossible unless I go and use the internet from the library. I've been spending most of the £409.89 I get from my welfare payment each month on food, energy bills and a cheap SIM-only contract for my phone. However, if I want to get a job, then I will need to be able to install home broadband in my grandmother's house. My grandmother is reluctant towards having broadband in her house but I tell her that if I want to get a job, I need to get online at home and not rely on the internet from the library. What do you do? [[Convince your grandmother to get home broadband]] [[Don't bother, it's not worth it]]

Michael spends 30 minutes convincing Pippa to install home broadband in her house. He goes as far to show that he wants fibre broadband, which is not only expensive, but takes a significant chunk out of the money he gets on welfare. After much deliberation, Pippa gives the go-ahead for installing broadband, but she tells Michael that it's going to come out of his own pocket and he's got to pay for the broadband if he wants to keep it in the house. Also, she's not switching away from the line rental she's paying for her phone line through BT1. As the house has a BT1 phone line, it means that getting cable broadband through VM Max means having to change suppliers, which is one of the drawbacks for getting fast fibre home broadband for the household. Which broadband provider should I go for? [[BT1 - Expensive, but fast]] [[Blueyonder - Cheap fibre broadband]] [[Superfly Broadband - Slightly cheaper than BT1, but still expensive]] [[Talk1 - Cheap, but inconsistent]]

You've tried to convince your grandmother to have home broadband installed in your house, but she refused to budge to your numerous requests of getting online at home. Facing a choice of being digitally excluded from society permanently or at least having a lifelong future of being jobless, Michael's hopes of getting a job in the past few years has slowly sapped his motivation to find work. At least, he's never been sanctioned from being on welfare and has done everything his work coach has told him to do in his contract when he first signed up for his monthly welfare payments more than three years ago. [[Next -> Michael heads to the library]]

The stress of being digitally excluded has gotten to Michael and he's decided to give up on life. In a letter he wrote to his grandmother Pippa, it said: Dear Pippa, The stress of not being in a job for so long, as well as not being able to do things I once enjoyed with my friends has meant I do not see a way out. I've tried for over a year to find a job with limited success and being on welfare has made me so depressed to the point that I withdraw from society every time I try to make some progress but end up going to the lowest rung of the ladder again. Not being able to access the internet has made things worse and not having broadband in the house has meant many long days in the library trying to find work but not getting anything has meant I don't see a way out of this anytime soon. Thank you so much for looking after me since my parents broke up in unfortunate circumstances and I will forever be in your debt. I love you Pippa. Michael Pippa reads the letter Michael has written and is in tears at Michael effectively ending his own life. [[The end of the game]]

It's cheap and will not take a huge chunk of what I'm getting through my monthly welfare payment, but my grandmother did say to get the broadband package through BT1. [[Back to the options menu ->Convince your grandmother to get home broadband]]

Your grandmother said to get broadband through BT1 right? This is not BT1 and she has no interest in paying for lots of channels which will be glossed over through the broadband package you recommended to her. [[Back to the options menu ->Convince your grandmother to get home broadband]]

Did you tell yourself that you would never get Talk1 broadband? Your friend who used to have that broadband provider told you of how terrible the customer service and broadband speeds were on Talk1. I'm definitely not buying anything from Talk1 anytime soon that's for sure. [[Back to the options menu ->Convince your grandmother to get home broadband]]

<strong>Michael</strong>: I'm getting the BT1 Fibre 1 broadband package. <strong>Pippa</strong>: Wonderful. Does it mean that you'll be paying for my line rental and phone package too alongside the broadband? <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes, that'll come with the entire package. There's a small fee with the setup but it should not take more than one or two weeks at best. <strong>Pippa</strong>: Great. Does it mean I can still call my friends and family? <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes, Pippa. You can do all that before the broadband is installed into the house. <strong>Pippa</strong>: How are you getting on with finding a job? <strong>Michael</strong>: Still struggling at the moment, thank you, but once I get broadband in this house, things will get better I hope. <strong>Pippa</strong>: Fingers crossed, in the next few weeks, you will get a job. <strong>Michael</strong>: One can hope. [[Next -> One week later...]]

An engineer knocks on the door. Michael opens the door and says: <strong>Michael</strong>: Are you the BT1 engineer who will be installing my broadband in my house. <strong>BT1 engineer</strong>: Yes I am, can I come into the house please? <strong>Michael</strong>: Sure, come on in. The BT1 engineer walks into the house and asks Mike where's the landline? <strong>Michael</strong>: The landline? You'll have to ask my grandmother about that. Pippa! <strong>Pippa</strong>: Yes, Mike. What is it that you want from me? <strong>Michael</strong>: Do you know where the landline is situated in the house? <strong>Pippa</strong>: Yes, it's in the sitting room, near the front window. <strong>Michael</strong>: Thank you, Pippa. The landline is near the front window in the sitting room. <strong>BT1 engineer</strong>: Great. Do you have the broadband router sent to your house beforehand? <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes. It's here in my hands. [[Next ->Installing the broadband]]

Michael walks to the library and heads to the computer to access his welfare journal. When he goes onto the welfare website, his smile turns into complete despair when he reads this latest journal update from his work coach. Dear Michael, Despite being on welfare for a few years and having limited success in finding work, I'm afraid I'm going to have to sanction you for not hitting your target of applying for 20 jobs a week. This means you will not be receiving your monthly payment of £409.89 for the next three months. I'm so sorry for giving you this piece of news but I guess as my job is to get you into work, if you do not complete the targets I set to you as part of the contract you signed with me, then you will be unable to get your monthly welfare payments. You can challenge this appeal in court or accept that you will not be receiving any money from the state for the next three months. Kindest Regards, Department for Welfare and Employment [[Next ->Here we go]]

Michael walks home from the library and tells the news to Pippa, his grandmother. <strong>Michael</strong>: I've been sanctioned. <strong>Pippa</strong>: Sanctioned from what? <strong>Michael</strong>: Sanctioned from receiving my welfare payment for the next three months. <strong>Pippa</strong>: Why? <strong>Michael</strong>: Apparently, I've not applied for 20 jobs a week, which is what my work coach told me. <strong>Pippa</strong>: That's terrible. Did you continue to apply for jobs at the library? <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes. The funny thing was I was always applying for jobs, even if I did not feel like doing it. Life can be so cruel and disgusting (Mike is so despondent right now). <strong>Pippa</strong>: Michael, are you alright? <strong>Michael</strong>: I'm fine, I'm heading to my bedroom now. Michael heads to his bedroom, completely in tears at the news he has received from his work coach. [[Next ->Michael heads to his bedroom]]

When Michael goes to his bedroom, he uncontrollably cries as his hopes of finding work and becoming a member of a digitally inclusive society fade away... <strong>Michael</strong>: I give up now. That's all I have to say now. I'm never going to get a job now. Michael cries himself to sleep and is left motionless on his bed. Things continue to go from bad to worse for his quest to become a digital member of society. [[Next -> The next day]]

Michael wakes up and leaves the home without saying a word to Pippa. All he's carrying on his way to the park is his belongings. As he heads to the river, he takes a deep breath and says his last words... <strong>Michael</strong>: I don't want to live like this anymore. The only option I have is to leave this planet and if it means taking my own life in this river, then so be it. While Michael has no swimming costume (he sold all his swimming equipment months ago), he jumps into the freezing water on the river and has a massive panic attack. Everyone in the park looks on with bewilderment as Michael is struggling to breathe in the water and after five minutes, a once happy man is left drowning in the river, never to be seen again. [[End the game ->The end of the game]]

Thank you very much for playing Digitally Excluded. What I wanted to do was try to create a game around what it would be like to be an individual who is digitally excluded from society. The option to install broadband at home or go without home internet access is one many people and families face in the UK. The Good Things Foundation's Blueprint for a 100% Digitally Included UK report found that <a href="https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/sites/default/files/blueprint-for-a-100-digitally-included-uk-0.pdf"> nearly a quarter of poor families do not have access at home to broadband or a desktop, laptop or tablet.</a> By creating a game around this subject, it would enable the player to put themselves in the shoes of someone who is living in digital exclusion and is trying to become a digital member of society. Having the aspect of getting a job online would replicate how unemployed people have to navigate the world of having no internet access in their homes to not only get a job, but also access their bank account, pay bills for utilities and book hospital appointments. [[Return to the start of the game->Digitally Excluded]]

Michael logs onto the welfare website and finds out he's been sanctioned for not applying for the set number of jobs a week he's been allocated by his work coach. <strong>Michael</strong>: Oh no, I'm sanctioned by my work coach, but I guess I'm now a member of a digitally inclusive society now. No longer will I ever be digitally excluded again, but I fear that for the cost of being a member of a digital society will be short and brief. Frantically, Michael prepares for his appointment with the job centre for tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, Mike sighs after his BT1 fibre broadband was installed in his house today. [[Next ->The Job Centre appointment]]

Michael arrives at the job centre, full of anxiety and excitement as he awaits his appointment with his work coach. <strong>Work coach</strong>: Michael! <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes, that's me. <strong>Work coach</strong>: Nice to meet you. How are you doing? <strong>Michael</strong>: I'm doing much better than I was two weeks ago. <strong>Work coach</strong>: Great, did you get the message in your journal that you were sanctioned for not hitting your agreed jobs target? <strong>Michael</strong>: Yes I did. <strong>Work coach</strong>: That means you will not be receiving your welfare payment for the next three months. However, I do have a job that suits your skillset. <strong>Michael</strong>: What is it? <strong>Work coach</strong>: Working in a factory as a factory worker. [[Take the job interview? -> Take the job interview?]] [[Decline the job interview? -> Decline the job interview?]]

<strong>Work coach</strong>: I'm afraid the sanction for the welfare payment stays. Michael accepts the result and is resigned to having no money to live on for the next three months. <strong>Michael</strong>: Looks like I'll be living off ramen noodles for the next 90 days then. The cost of being a digital member of society is too much of a burden for Michael who sadly after his appointment at the job centre has life taken away by a gang of young boys. [[The end of the game]]

<strong>Michael</strong>: I'm going to take the offer for this job interview job at the factory please. <strong>Work coach</strong>: Great, I'll call up the employer now. 10 minutes later after accepting the job interview for the job... <strong>Work coach</strong>: The interview for the job at the factory is this afternoon at 1pm Michael. <strong>Michael</strong>: It's short notice, but I'll take it thank you. <strong>Work coach</strong>: Good luck, let's hope today is the day you get a job. [[Continued -> The job interview]]

It's two hours before the interview for the job at the factory and Michael has already had lunch and is heading to the factory for his interview. <strong>Michael</strong>: I'm nervous about this interview as it's the first one I have had in so long. The time is now 12:45pm as Michael switches his phone off and heads into the factory for his job interview. [[Time for the interview]]

The interviewer calls out Michael's name and he comes into the interview room for the job role at the factory. I see you have been working as a chef, what makes you well suited for working in a factory, asks the interviewer? <strong>Michael</strong>: Working in under pressure environments have always played to my strengths. In my previous job, I used to have to cook on many occasions up to 100 guests at the time, requiring maximum concentration and teamwork to get the meals served. This means making sure every dish I served to a customer was perfect and with this job as a factory worker, I would use the skills I had acquired from working in hospitality for five years and apply this into the products the company makes in the factory. As the interview continues, the interviewee is so impressed with Michael that the interviewer makes an offer that he cannot refuse... [[Next->The job offer]]

After half an hour, the interview ends and the interviewer is so impressed with Michael that he decides to offer him the factory worker job on the spot. <strong>Michael</strong>: I would be more than happy to accept the job offer of working in a factory thank you. When Michael accepts the job offer to work in the factory, he is told by the interviewer that he starts the job tomorrow. One handshake later ends months of digital exclusion for Michael, who leaves the factory in a good mood knowing he is not unemployed anymore. <strong>Michael</strong>: Being able to earn money, talk to my friends online and get a new laptop after my old one broke down a few years ago is the best feeling in the world. I feel like I've got my life back on the right track again. Two months later, Michael is still working as a factory worker and is on the verge of being rewarded with a promotion by his manager for the work he's doing at the factory. Despite many obstacles put in his way, Michael puts his three years of digital exclusion behind him to start a new life as a digital member of society. He has used the money earned from his job to buy a new laptop, as well as upgrade his SIM-only contract to get more data to access when he's away from the BT1 fibre broadband that he has at home. Michael feels like he is back on the right track and ready to tackle whatever obstacles come his way. [[The end of the game]]