The majority of children that are at school are being educated about how to use computers from an extremely early age. Whether it be from an interactive whiteboard where the teacher explains work, or from hands-on learning where they use computers for themselves.

As we move to young teens and young adults, Information Communication Technology (ICT) is part of a compulsory syllabus up until they are 16, so we can't avoid learning ICT even if we wanted to.

It can often seem daunting for parents, with new websites popping up everyday and trends coming and going after a few weeks, so they turn to their children asking for help. Even my dad, who has been working with computers longer than I have, still asks for assistance with getting around websites or ordering online. Learning new things has been said to be done best when we are young, and technology is probably no exception, however, I think that the older generation are doing well for the amount of new things that have come out over the past few years. Mobile phones, DVD players, the Internet, PDA's and MP3 players, to name but a few, have all become daily objects in our lives—yet still some people don't know how to function them.

What I do find fulfilling is when older people see the result of these new products, and are amazed at what can be achieved. Even though they may not understand exactly how they work, they do not rely on and take for granted technology as much as kids do.

The Internet is currently down at my school and has been for the past three weeks. Stress levels have been rising amongst the Year 13's (my year) as university applications are now completely done online and there is no alternative (and did I mention the deadline is fast approaching?). There is almost too much reliance on technology for the younger generation and it could become risky if everything is done online.

Contributed by Jess