Girls are outdoing boys in the mouse department - the computer mouse, that is.
Dr Alison Lane, an occupational therapist with the Cerebral Palsy League in Queensland, whose PhD thesis examined the mouse skills of children aged five to 10, said girls were in general neater in their use of the device than boys. Being able to quickly and efficiently manipulate a mouse is vital for children's access to computer-based networks such as the Internet. The rapid spread of computers in schools and homes in Australia has been evident in the results of her survey. Nearly 44 per cent of the 221 children we surveyed in Brisbane and Ipswich said they used a mouse at least once a week. Proficiency in the use of a mouse was now essential in the daily lives of children in school and at play.