Wired Kids

By George Anderson

It’s not enough to learn your ABC’s in kindergarten anymore. You also need to learn your WWW’s.

According to a new study released by the Department of Education, 25 percent of five-year-olds today are surfing the Internet.

The study also found 90 percent of kids between the ages of five and 17 use computers and 80 percent are going online by the time they’re 16.

Caucasian children are more likely to have access to computers and the Internet than either African-American or Hispanic kids. The report found 80 percent of African-American
children had access to a computer in school, but that number was cut in half for home usage.

To download a pdf file of the study go to the National Center for Educational Statistics Web page at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004014

Moderator’s Comment: What impact are today’s computer savvy kids having on retail marketing activity? What will their comfort with technology mean to
marketers and employers when they reach adulthood?

You haven’t lived until you’ve had a five-year old turn around from a desk and ask you if he can borrow your credit card to buy something from Pokemon.com.
Today’s kids are just as likely to want to go online to buy something (with their parents’ permission, of course) as they are to ask for a ride to a store to purchase the same
item. [George
Anderson – Moderator]