I’m not really sure how I feel about kids going to school entirely online, young ones in particular. The numbers discussed below surprised me – I did not realize this was happening at such a rate.

“When I was in high school” will soon refer to different memories and memes than what it currently does.

In a radical rethinking of what it means to go to school, states and districts nationwide are launching online public schools that let students from kindergarten to 12th grade take some—or all—of their classes from their bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens. Other states and districts are bringing students into brick-and-mortar schools for instruction that is largely computer-based and self-directed.

In just the past few months, Virginia has authorized 13 new online schools. Florida began requiring all public-high-school students to take at least one class online, partly to prepare them for college cybercourses. Idaho soon will require two. In Georgia, a new app lets high-school students take full course loads on their iPhones and BlackBerrys. Thirty states now let students take all of their courses online.

Nationwide, an estimated 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools, up 40% in the last three years, according to Evergreen Education Group, a consulting firm that works with online schools. More than two million pupils take at least one class online, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a trade group.

An article in the WSJ about the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show discusses the seemingly conflicting consumers demands that luxury automakers are attempting to fulfill: desire for the best performance possible yet also a growing demand for greener, more enviro products.
It’s mentioned once in passing in the article but I think for us strategists the really interesting thing to ponder is whether or not the kids of today will age into the current automotive mindsets, or will they redefine them all together? I recently shared with you data on how fewer teens are even getting their licenses and the continued march towards megacities means cars become more of a burden to most – not the ultimate “freedom-defining” purchase they once were.

It’s a delicate balancing act, but one the luxury car makers are forced to perform as they figure out what the customer of the future will want. Volkswagen AG luxury brand Audi, for example, invited academics and industry experts to a conference Monday to discuss the challenges of a near future when 70% of the world’s people will live in congested mega-cities. They also predict attitudes about car ownership will be upended by a generation that cares more about slick smartphone apps than 0-to-60-miles-per-hour times.

The dichotomy is on view on BMW’s show stand, which features an electric BMW i3 concept car made of aluminum and carbon fiber with the motor over the rear axle and a top speed of 93 mph. Nearby is parked a new edition of the auto maker’s mighty M5 super sedan, with a 560-horsepower petroleum-fueled V-8. BMW stresses that the new M5 is both more powerful than its predecessor and 30% more fuel efficient.

Audi is giving prominence to small electric concept cars. It’s also emphasizing the idea that in the future, what will matter to its customers is more than a car, but “mobility,” a concept being bandied about at the Frankfurt show that emphasizes giving consumers information about how to get around in crowded cities, locate parking spaces and use smartphone apps to arrange car-sharing.

* people with jobs

After reading in the latest Pew Report how kids today don’t really use email (“that’s what Facebook is for”), I have been keeping my ears and eyes open for further evidence. In my highly unscientific survey of every kid and teen I’ve encountered since then – Pew is right.

I also saw this on Ypulse. The people doing the survey were asking specifically about email marketing, so we know they have a vested interest in justifying their continued receipt of paychecks, but I don’t find it hard to believe that kids recognize their eventual need of a cyber dropbox. Will we get to a place where an email will no longer be required to “sign-up” for something? Another electronic breadcrumb we can leave behind in its stead?

44% of students surveyed believe email has its place and will stick around, 41% are more inclined to think social media will overtake email and 15% just aren’t sure yet.

Students that believe email will stay say it’s because email is good for business and formal communication. Many also pointed out that an email address is required for many sites, and that social media and email pair well together to cover informal and formal communications.

Those that said email will be replaced believe it’s because email is not fast enough, some even going as far as calling it digital snail mail. This indicates that while many students use mobile devices to update their social media sites, they aren’t aware they can log in to their email account as well.

Many of the students only took their current use of email into account when responding, which may be why they’re inclined to believe email will die or they’re uncertain about its future.

I’ve been hit with a wave of “it’s almost time for school to start” – which is weird, given the lack of school on my agenda these days. Maybe my subconscious is telling me I should sign up for a class? Anyways, it seems like every time I turn around I see something about prepping for the upcoming school year and this article in the Wall Street Journal today reminded me of how many different types of challenges incoming students face and why it’s important to think beyond the beer-soaked-college-party stereotype.

Among Americans seeking treatment for substance abuse, no demographic is growing faster than students age 18 to 24. During the decade ended in 2009, treatment providers say the number of students in that age range seeking help more than doubled, compared with a 9% jump in the 25-and-older category, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Most colleges and universities offer few if any services for students trying to get or stay clean and sober.

Left to fend for themselves amid opportunities and pressure to partake, students often drop out or flunk out. College administrators say booze and drug usage plays a role in the 20% dropout rate of among college freshmen.

Millennials aren’t buying cars. Cars cut them off from their lives — they can’t text, can’t talk to their friends, and can’t check Facebook while driving. Fewer Millennials are getting drivers licenses than previous generations. Even by age 19, only 77% have a license.

If you don’t subscribe to Ypulse I’d definitely recommend doing so. Worth putting in the inbox.

I hate to read “those kids today” rants – this is more of a “those poor kids today” version of that.

I think having a job when one is young is important, really important. And I don’t mean having a fancy internship, I mean a job where you make money for college, or for whatever thing you think you HAVE to have that your parents are unwilling or unable to fund.
It’s important not only to earn your own scratch, but to be bored out of your mind, to have to contemplate “OMG is this ALL there is???” and to think “here are the 10,000 other things I’d rather put my super powers to use in favor of.” My summer job at the pool definitely inspired endless fantasies of what my grown-up life would be like. Being unstimulated by my surroundings and/or terrified of being stuck where I was at that point in time was a HUGE motivator to me.

It makes me sad to think that fewer kids get the chance to go through that intellectual exercise at a relatively lower risk point in their lives. I think it’s a crucial component of being able to say “you know what, I’d rather do XXX, maybe make less money but do things I believe are good, with people I want to work with” later in life.

Fewer than 30% of teens ages 16 to 19 are likely to find paying jobs this summer, down from 52% in 2000 and about the same as the summer 2010 rate of 29.6%, the lowest since the government began keeping records in the 1940s, says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, Boston. Beyond general job-market weakness, tighter legal restrictions on youth labor and adult competition for jobs are crowding teens out.

With summer approaching, an increasing number of high-schoolers around the country are preparing to launch their own start-ups—and not just lemonade stands. With lawn-mowing businesses, hand-painting of tennis shoes or Bosnian-language computer repairs, teens are bucking long odds in the dismal job market and earning their own mall money or cash for college.

How many of kids with their own little businesses will be inspired to dream up bigger businesses?

About 3.7% of high-school seniors are interested in becoming business owners or entrepreneurs, based on a survey of 1.9 million students by the National Research Center for College & University Admissions, Lee’s Summit, Mo. Interest among younger high-school students is higher, at 4.1% to 4.4%.

Already billed as the next Bieber, Madonna manager Guy Oseary and Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter are also on board with the effort. Ellen indicated that other artists will be added to the eleveneleven imprint, a venture with Telepictures Productions.

More cool things from Japan take over the world…

Changing consumer preferences about shopping and the high cost of operating brick-and-mortar stores are inspiring premium brands to rethink how they hawk their wares.

And with examples overseas showing there is money to be made, the so-called automated retail store (the term vending machine is so Industrial Revolution) is venturing into fashion, beauty products, electronics and more.

A couple of months ago, The Body Shop cosmetics franchise began offering skincare products with ingredients like hemp and vitamin E in deluxe machines at airports and, soon, shopping centers. In the fall and winter, a company called U*tique will begin selling high-end beauty products in machines that light up when customers approach — a better reception than shoppers get from most retail employees.

In the last few years, Best Buy, Sephora, Apple and Proactiv have put their products in vending machines. Quiksilver offers board shorts and bikinis in machines at Standard hotels. Such machines also offer nascent brands that have no store outlet another way to bring their products to market. Customers can make returns by calling a phone number on the receipt.

In an age of iPads, high-speed Internet service, A.T.M.’s and self check-in at airports, consumers expect instant gratification. Not only are they accustomed to researching and buying products on their own by touching screens and pressing buttons. They often prefer it.

A study published in 2008 by NCR Corporation found that 86 percent of North American consumers were more likely to do business with companies offering some sort of self-service. Many respondents also said they had a more positive perception of a brand if it offered self-service technology. This appears to be especially true of young shoppers.

Regular use of certain cosmetics is rising sharply among tween girls, according to a new report from the NPD Group, a consumer research company. From 2007 to 2009, the percentage of girls ages 8 to 12 who regularly use mascara and eyeliner nearly doubled — to 18 percent from 10 percent for mascara, and to 15 percent from 9 percent for eyeliner. The percentage of them using lipstick also rose, to 15 percent from 10 percent.

Meanwhile, women of all other age groups, including teenagers, report using less makeup, according to NPD. The economy seems to be playing a role, said Karen Grant, the senior beauty industry analyst with NPD, with women cutting back on beauty products to save money and unemployed women feeling less compelled to do their face every morning.

So how is the elementary-school set getting away with it? Easy: Mom is the one buying it. When asked to name their primary influence for acquiring and applying makeup, 66 percent of the 365 tween girls polled by NPD pointed to a family member or adult family friend.

Really!

Most casual observers believe that teenage girls share shopping information — especially about sales on cool clothes, music, etc. — with their friends online, and that they follow those tips with online purchases. But that belief is only about half right, according to a 2010 survey conducted by RSCG Worldwide.

The study found that girls are protective of information regarding their favorite brands, and they choose to share it via text message or phone rather than through more wide-reaching social media like Facebook or Twitter.

Some fun facts:

Only 5% alert friends of sales through Facebook, while 78% pass along those kinds of tip by phone and SMS.

Girls were also much more likely to shop in brick-and-mortar stores than online.