From the lap to the laptop

Avaanesh Mehta is a real multi-tasker on his PC. When he's surfing the internet and downloading music and video files online, he also checks his Hotmail account, plays games on miniclip.com, chats with friends on MSN messenger and sometimes logs onto the social networking site, Hi5. And oh, he's only 11.

Not only is this student of RIMS International School extremely net savvy, he's also an avid gamer. He loves playing games like FIFA Street on his PlayStation 2. "If you have modified your PS2, you can play pirated games, but the lens may not last for more than two years," says Avaanesh.

Ten-year-old Anand Benegal offered to teach his mom Paushali the basics of PowerPoint presentations. "He learnt it on his own," says his mother. "A few days ago, I bought a digital voice recorder, but instead of poring over the manual, I just gave it to Anand who figured out how to use it, and then taught me." Benegal says her son is no genius. "He's as ordinary, or extraordinary, as other kids his age, when it comes to handling the latest gadgets and gizmos."

Welcome to the world of the techie tween. Children like Avaanesh and Anand, born in the late '90s or so, are the first generation to grow up surrounded by, and comfortable with, technology. Kids who seem to understand and grasp the essence of digital technology even as their parents grapple with sending an email. Popularly called the internet generation, they also go by names like Nexters, GenY and Millennials.

According to Kids And Consumer Electronics Trends III, a June 2007 study by the US market research company the NPD Group, the "average age at which children begin using consumer electronics devices has declined from 8.1 years in 2005, to 6.7 years in 2007". In the US, children begin using electronic devices when they are seven, with tvs and computers showing the youngest initial exposure — about 4-5 years.

While there have been no such large-scale studies published in India, market reseachers say that there is a similar trend among Indian children too. Reshma Nevada, 31, a business services manager for the market research organisation Icon Added Value says, "Most adults had to learn the technology when they were older, and now as parents, they encourage their kids to use it. These kids were born with technology around them, so they take to computers, cellphones, the internet, etc quite easily. It helps that schools are putting technology into the curriculum."

Avaanesh's mom, Meenacshi Mehta, 35, agrees. "Projects are no longer about drawing and pasting on chart paper," she says. "My son emails queries to his teachers, and if he misses school, he logs online to find out what he's missed. Homework is posted on the school's website. It wasn't like this when I was a child."

At the international baccalaureate school Pinnacle High, students as young as five are introduced to computers. Principal Nithya Sundaram says, "Our students, including the kindergarteners, take to it like fish to water. Many of them have already learnt how to use a PC at home, and often teach their parents."

Priya Agrawal, 36, finds her eight-year-old daughter Anoushka to be more tech-savvy than her older daughter Aditi, 12. "Anoushka is familiar with the controls of a plasma TV, can send emails and likes playing online games," says Agrawal. Like her older sister, Anoushka also has an iShuffle.

Nevada says, "We find children as young as eight showing their parents how to use the internet to maximum benefit. For instance, if Dad wants to buy a music system, Junior helps him pick one out from the Philips and Sony websites, by comparing prices and specifications." Parents turning to their kids for help is changing the family dynamics, adds Nevada.

When it comes to technology, the parent is often no longer the authoritarian know-it-all; sometimes the child has the upper hand. "When I ask Anand for help, I find him a bit disdainful," says Benegal. "I don't recall my parents asking me for help. With my son, it's all a game."

With the child one step ahead, there are concerns about monitoring and security. "As a working parent, I worry about this," says Agrawal.

"Kids are clever enough to outsmart internet monitoring tools, so the best thing is to be honest with them and explain why some things are off-limits for them." With Nexters, who seem to be born with a mouse in their hand, this is clearly the best option.