Research

Kids More Likely to Look Online for Help than Ask Parents

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/28/19

New research has found that kids around the world were more likely to look online than ask parents for help with school work. Globally, three-quarters of parents said their children would turn to the internet first. That was highest in India (89 percent) and China (85 percent) and lowest in Germany (54 percent).

Six in 10 parents admitted that they've also looked up topics online and then pretended to know the answer when helping their students with homework. Math was the most common subject where this occurred (45 percent), followed by science (38 percent), geography (36 percent) and foreign languages (35 percent).

Computer maker Lenovo surveyed 15,226 people in 10 countries. All respondents were people who get online themselves.

The survey also found that most parents (83 percent) generally believe advances in technology in education are helping their students do better in school. And nearly three-quarters (73 percent) reported that they trust technology to help young people to become "more independent learners and problem solvers." American parents were least likely to believe this (59 percent), while Indian parents were most likely to (91 percent).

However, a high share around the world (72 percent) also believe that technology can create "dependencies" in young people, potentially affecting social skills.

"There is no doubt that the world of education is being transformed due to smart technology, offering children the opportunity to be adventurous and independent learners, who are empowered to find out the right answers themselves," said Dilip Bhatia, Lenovo vice president of user and customer experience, in a statement. "As with everything, it is important to strike the right balance on and offline, but technology can be a uniting force for families. It is also important to remember that some parents are better equipped to offer children answers on educational subjects than others, especially in different regions across the world."