Children Likelier to Quiz Google Than Their Parents or Teachers: Study

A recent survey finds that most kids would prefer to ask Google if they have a question rather than their parents or teachers. According to the survey of 500 children conducted by Birmingham Science City, most six to 15 year olds would turn to the search engine first, with 54 percent saying they'd ask Google before their parents or teachers.

Only one quarter of children would ask their parents first over Google.

Encyclopaedias came in a very poor last place, with one quarter of children admitting they don't know what it is.

Almost half of all children - 45 percent have never used a print encyclopaedia and nearly a fifth - 19 percent have never used a print dictionary.

Guesses as to the strange "encyclopaedia" device's function included that an "encyclopedia" might be something you travel on or use to perform an operation.

Teachers also fared badly in the research, as only three percent of children aged six to fifteen would ask their teacher for an answer.

The survey highlighted how central technology has become to young lives, with almost half of children using Google at least five times day.

"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," the Daily Mail quoted Pam Waddell, Director of Birmingham Science City as saying.

"It's not surprising that with answers at the touch of the button, youngsters often Google questions before asking parents, friends or teachers.

"However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows just how commonplace digital technology is for children today and how comfortable they are with using it.

"Children, no matter what generation they grow up in, have an inquisitive and curious nature, and so the fact they are able to use new technology to explore this is a positive sign for the future," Waddell added.

Source-ANI