Things sure have changed since we did our high school homework.  If you are over 30 years old, doing project research years ago required more time, more diligence and more places to go to get the information for that special school report.

Interviewing a ton of high school kids from freshman to seniors, revealed a dramatic change in how the projects are prepared and the time needed to complete a straight “A” submission…the Internet.  There are several things I learned from my exchange with these kids, and the answers were quite surprising and innovative.

Here’s what they had to say about the Net:

Quick, Easy and you don’t have to go anywhere…

The kids loved the quickness and immediacy of the medium.  Three out of four kids told me they aced special projects with access to information they found on the Web.  Their sources were quoted from respected sources like University studies, and the New England Journal of Medicine. These kids quoted major periodicals and industry leaders for content available within days of being published on line available to them in real time.  It’s no wonder why with a little help from the search engines, they were able to put together a comprehensive report with solid information based on fact and typed on a word processor.  This delivery and format beats the pants off of the handwritten data researched and compiled from dated sources found in dusty old  encyclopedias in the school or  town library available just a short 10-15 years ago.

Search Specialists

Kids have learned to master the art of “searching” on the net. They rattled off several of the top search engines and portals to access information.. Surprisingly, even knew about search engines that search other search engines.  They also had learned to narrow the search by using quotation marks in the phrasing of the search. The quotes around the subject quantifies the search.  They want to avoid too large a search and get to the meat of what they were looking for. 

What’s Cool, What’s not..

On the dislike list were slow connections and downloads, junk mail, advertising and yes, porn advertising.  Plenty of kid terms are used as Metatags on non-desirable sites, helping to drive traffic to those sites.  In general, the kids revealed that porn was everywhere, which made it easy and available..  Instant messaging on content providers proved to be a distraction when trying to get homework done.  An easy solution is to use the parent’s account to avert instant messaging interruptions during homework time.

Their favorites include music sites and being able to download and hear their favorite music groups.  They especially like the band information sites but disliked some of the mail list/listserv opportunities due to the ton of junk mail that come with loosely monitored postings.

Kids Doing Good Stuff

The most innovative information came with the new way schools and kids are promoting fund raising.  The kids go home with catalogues for market day, band candy, holiday wrapping paper, etc.  By building their own “dot.com” company, and using a website for orders, they are learning to integrate the traditional market practices with the new e-commerce opportunities available on the Internet while learning first hand about profits and e-marketing for successful web business.

Minding your Manners

Surveys’ show that there isn’t much available in school curriculums yet that trains and educates kids or their parents on the protocol for communicating on the Internet.  Very few of the kids practiced any kind of net etiquette, or “netiquette”.  They have picked up some protocols through mail lists, but were somewhat unfamiliar with the proper use of upper and lower case usage, emoticons, and the use of mail managers equipped with spell checkers and automatic signature features.  They were unaware that the simple e-mail messages they were sending were actually published communications that require the appropriate components of  written correspondence.

Better Get with it!

Have you noticed how kids will  run into your home offices, and immediately begin “playing” with your Palm Pilot as they “click” away, with no fear, in just pure curiosity? These 3 year olds are making us look bad, as many adults still have the misconception that they can catch a virus from holding a PDA!

It is easy to see why our kids are way ahead of most adults on finding and manipulating the resources of the Internet.  It may be time for us to give serious consideration to trading in the television remote for a mouse. These kids are the consumers of tomorrow, and we will need to be on the same level of competency and comfort as they are . So, get with it, take a class and start “surfing the Net”. While you are at it, check out some of the sites that are kid favorites.  You might stop by and check out the latest from www.RancidRawk.com. Oh, in case you didn’t know…It’s a music site;-)