91% Of Children Prefer To Use Google

Sites include Google.com . Published on April 18th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

There was a time when kids relied heavily on their parents for information. “What’s the tallest mountain in the world, dad?” Parents like me used to take pride in giving the answer. But now all that is changing; children are turning more and more to search engines (Google specifically) for information. Indeed the term ‘Google it’ is more than just a catch phrase; it’s a verb that is no firmly entrenched in our lexicon and our lives.

A recent study by Birmingham Science City organization based in the UK found that children are more likely fire up Google on their laptops, smartphones or tablets to dig up info on anything they want. 500 children 6 – 15 years old were surveyed and 91% said that they preferred to go to the search engine rather than ask parents. Frequency was also very heavy and 47% of those surveyed admitted to suing the service at least 5 times a day.

Dr Pam Waddell, Director of Birmingham Science City cited the rapid increase digital technology as a major driver in the change in approach. Saud Dr. Waddell, “With children now growing up in an environment where digital technology is accepted as standard, we wanted to see just how this has affected their approach to research and exploration. It’s not surprising that with answers at the touch of the button, youngsters often Google questions before asking parents, friends or teachers.”

Times really are a changing and all roads lead to a complete reliance on technology for things that we traditionally handled with a bit of personal interaction and intellectual digging.

Are we relying on technology too much? Share your thoughts below.