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Wired kids: Today’s youth riding the technology wave
By Ben Feller
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Need some
help navigating the Net? Your best
consultant might be a kid.
At school and at home, today’s chil
dren and teens are so computer savvy
and comfortable online that they’ve
become technology pacesetters, two
new government studies show.
About 90 percent of people ages 5
to 17 use computers and 59 percent of
them use the Internet — rates that are,
in both cases, higher than those of
adults. Even kindergartners are becom
ing more plugged in: One out of four 5-
year-olds uses the Internet.
The figures come from a new
Education Department analysis of
computer and Internet use by chil
dren and adolescents in 2001. A sec
ond report from the agency, based on
2002 data, shows 99 percent of pub
lic schools have Internet access, up
from 35 percent eight years ago.
“Children are often the first
adopters of a lot of technology,”
said John Bailey, who oversees
educational technology for the
department. “They grow up with it.
They don’t have to adapt to it. ...
Students, by and large, are domi
nating the Internet population.”
By the time they’re age 10, 60 per
cent of children use the Internet. That
number grows to almost 80 percent
for kids who are 16.
“The dramatic increase in
younger kids’ use of technology is
not disconnected from what’s going
on with their parents and their fami
lies,” said Peter Grunwald, whose
California research firm tracks tech
nology trends by annually surveying
students and parents.
“Younger kids are likely to have
younger parents, and it is those parents,
especially mothers, who have a much
higher comfort level with technology
than older parents — or even younger
parents of five years ago.”
A substantial number of children
have or plan to have their own Web
sites, Grunwald said.
Like adults, young people are
going online for a range of reasons,
the government research shows.
Almost three in four use the Internet
for help with school assignments,
while more than half use it for writ
ing e-mail, sending instant messages
or playing games.
Girls, who not long ago used com
puters and the Internet at lower rates
than boys, have essentially eliminated
that difference, the research shows. But
there are other notable gaps.
Almost two-thirds of young white
people use the Internet, but less than
half of black people ages 5 to 17 do,
and slightly more than a third of
Hispanic young people log on. Part
of the reason is access — 80 percent
of black students use computers at
school, for example, but only 41 per
cent do so at home, according to the
2001 report.
“We need to address the limited
access to technology that many stu
dents have outside of school,”
Education Secretary Rod Paige said.
“There is much more we can do.”
From rural areas to the suburbs to
cities, almost every public school is
wired for the Internet and schools
now have one computer with Internet
access for every five students, the
research shows. As a result, more
children and teens use computers at
school than at home.
The kids are online
Children are leading the way to the Web About 59 percent of
youths ages 5 to 17 use the Internet — a higher rate thanlhatol
adults.
Percentage of youths using computers and Internet
Computer use EZI3 Internet use
Percentage of youths using Internet by activitity
Completing school work
E-mail or instant messaging
Playing games
News/weather/sports
Product search
Chat rooms or listservs
Online TV. movies, radio
Make purchases
Phone calls
72.0%
65.0%
62.3%
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Critics blast CBS'
Reagan miniseries
LOS ANGELES (AP)-The
angry buzz over “The
Reagans” has grown loudei
and more pointed. “Advertisers
will bail on CBS’ anti-Reagar
movie,” commentator Pa!
Buchanan predicted on “The
McLaughlin Group” Sunday.
Two days later, a conservative
media watchdog group
announced a boycott call-to-
arms. But CBS isn’t showing
signs of regretting its excursion
into political drama. Based on
experience, observers say, it
probably doesn’t need to.
“The bottom line is, the more
attention it (the miniseries)
gets, the more people are
going to watch it,” said telew
sion analyst Marc Berman of
Media Week Online.
Last season, pre-broadcasi
protests greeted the network';
miniseries about Adolf Hitler
early years, which some fearer
would have the effect of foster^
sympathy for the Nazi leader.
“It didn’t hurt the ratings.!!
gave it more exposure,"
Berman said.
Four escape from
North Carolina jail
RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) -
Four inmates escaped from an
understaffed county jail, includ
ing a man accused of kidnap
ping an 11-year-old girl who
was pregnant with his child and
holding her captive in Mexico
for years, authorities said.
The four escaped late
Tuesday from the Hoke County
Jail’s annex. One was cap
tured Wednesday and the oth
ers remained at large, authori
ties said.
The four took advantage ol
understaffing, the sheriffs
office said. The inmates were
in the jail’s annex. The jail and
the annex are supposed to
house about 71 inmates but
typically hold 90 inmates,
Peterkin said.
New anti-drug
campaign aimed
at Hispanic youth
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A new
anti-drug media campaign tar
geting Hispanic youth urges theif
parents to talk to children about
the dangers of marijuana and
other illegal drugs.
The initiative, announced
Wednesday, will be partially fund
ed by $31 million in federal money
for anti-drug efforts by the Office of
National Drug Control Policy. The
rest will come from public and pri
vate organizations.
The campaign focuses on the
use of marijuana by Hispanic
teenagers, who showed the
highest rate of use among differ
ent ethnic groups and whites,
according to a study done for the
federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
It includes an open letter to
Hispanic parents urging them to
learn more about the dangers ot
marijuana. The letter will appear
in 84 newspapers in 43 metro
politan areas around the country
this week. The letter is signed by
leaders of 11 top health, educa
tion and advocacy organizations
Three television ads are slated
to be aired in Hispanic markets
and the Hispanic food company
Goya will help distribute a bilin
gual booklet aimed at educating
parents about drugs.
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