Kids Have No Problem Multi-Tasking
Unlike their parents, most kids who surf the Internet still find time to read, watch television and go to movies.
A new study by Simmons Market Research Bureau found that young surfers differ from their “wired” elders, who typically consume less TV than their non-online peers.
Here’s a partial profile of online kids based on Simmons’ nationwide study of 5,000 children ages 6-11:
* An equal number of girls and boys regularly go online.
* Fifty-eight percent of “wired” kids are between the ages of 9 and 11.
* Online users watch more TV than their non-online counterparts (76 percent online vs. 66 percent non-online users); go to the movies more often (81 percent online vs. 64 percent non-online); and read more magazines (58 percent online vs. 36 percent non-online).
* Kids who are online users play more sports than their peers, with swimming, biking and bowling topping their list of preferences.
* Games are popular online, as well. Kids with computers own software for: games (57 percent), word processing (49 percent), educational activities (49 percent) and e-mail (28 percent).
You don’t have to be a kid to check out the following new, helpful or entertaining Web sites:
* Getting out the vote: With election day barely three months away, the political season has shifted into high gear.
Voters will go to the polls Nov. 7 to fill positions ranging from president to dog catcher. But you can’t cast a ballot unless you’re registered.
So Web sites such as Election.com have simplified the registration process, hoping to encourage more eligible citizens to vote. Just fill out online registration forms, which are mailed to you for your signature. Drop the pre-addressed forms into the mail and you’re done. Absentee ballots also can be requested online.
http://www.election.com
* Sitting for SAT: College-bound high school students will sacrifice part of a weekend in the next few months to take the SAT I, which most four-year colleges use to help make admissions decisions.
Students can sign up online to take the test. Dates the test will be offered, as well as registration deadlines, are available at Collegeboard.org. There are also sample questions.
Here’s one: Currently rising temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctic are ______ of a still warmer world that could result from an excess of carbon dioxide produced by the burning of oil, gas and coal. Which is the best word to fill in the blank: polarities, harbingers, vestiges, counterexamples, aftereffects. Answer: harbingers.
http://www.collegeboard.org