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US teens lag behind Britain in internet use

Survey reveals that young people in the US are not as web-savvy as their counterparts in the UK, Canada and parts of Europe.

By David Lawsky, Reuters, 24 Nov 2008 at 11:33

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Despite being a world leader in technology innovation, internet use among America’s teenagers compares poorly to a number of other Western nations.

Only 88 per cent of US teenagers aged 12 to 14 year olds use the internet, compared to 100 per cent of British children of the same age, according to the World Internet Report by the Centre for the Digital Future.

In addition, 96 per cent of Czech Republic and Macao teens and 95 per cent of Canadian children also use the internet, surpassing their US counterparts.

For the report by the Centre for the Digital Future, researchers in 13 countries talked to more than 25,000 people in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe in late 2007 and early 2008.

The Centre report showed the US trails other countries in older groups, too. US internet use by those over 18 runs behind Sweden, New Zealand and Canada.

The Centre report, issued annually in the US and for the first time worldwide, pointed to strong mobile internet use in the UK as one reason why teenage internet use is so high.

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4 comments

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good for them

Good for them - could be they are outside playing decent games and hiking in the fresh air rather than wasting their time on rubbish and boring computer games and trash TV.

By Ip_pmjm044d1322b on Tuesday Nov 25

internet

Perhaps there is far more interest in the real world than staring at a computer screen and accessing a virtual world,one created by someone else,and living a life of make believe

By Hondaman on Tuesday Nov 25

Sensationalist Claptrap

100% of 12 to 14 year olds use the Internet. What rubbish; they may have access to the Internet; but 100% use it. A lot of this report is available online so I can see that it is a good valid report. Overall I would say the US has about 10% more users than the UK. Talk about cherry picking the results. Obviously David Lawsky has written an article to impress the British. Well this brit is not amused.

By condover1 on Tuesday Nov 25

Interesting article but lack of IT Funding in Schools is a Real Hazard to The UK Economy

Your article surprises me. A recent survey we conducted of UK teachers, heads of year, ICT managers and Ofsted Inspectors found that 82% of respondents believed that the current budget they received was simply not enough to prepare students for employment within key sectors such as IT and Computer Aided Design (CAD). This trend is particularly alarming considering that key government figures such as Doug Brown, Deputy Director of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), have been publicly urging educators to let students experiment with the latest technologies to prevent UK students falling behind their European and American counterparts. The skill-set shortage hasn’t gone unnoticed by employers, with 69% of firms admitting they are having to invest in additional training due to concerns about the IT skills of employees*. With the Government pledging an extra £230 million to schools for this year’s budget, the results of the survey show that the money is certainly not being invested in preparing pupils for work in the IT sector. It is clear that there is a real demand for technology by students and staff in the education sector and if this isn’t addressed soon, future employees are going to suffer greatly when they begin working. We live and breathe technology in our daily lives so it is essential that we equip our students with the skills they need to succeed in the working world. We strongly urge the Government to take these concerns more seriously and take a step to proactively address this issue. * survey conducted by the CBI and Edexcel

By Ip_jamesd1517ad8 on Tuesday Nov 25