Pupils at Bayfield High School got an inside look at the lives of their counterparts at Bentonville High School, Arkansas, when both schools "hooked up" for a chat via live video conference yesterday.
Social studies teacher Rosemary McBryde said the initiative was sparked by an email from Drew Halevy, a ninth grade pre-American history teacher at the school in the United States.
"He wanted his students to contact another part of the world to learn about their culture - where they are similar and where they are different.
The initiative gives both schools an opportunity to find out about a part of the world that they know nothing about."
Pupils from Bentonville asked Bayfield year 9 pupils if they had a school marching band, if there were any Mormons in Dunedin, and whether New Zealanders liked Australians.
Meanwhile, Bayfield pupils asked the American pupils some more challenging questions about what they thought of George Bush as president, how they felt about nuclear power and global warming, and their attitude to civil rights and racism.
If there was one thing she had learnt from the experience, it was that teenagers were the same all over the world, Mrs McBryde said.
"They ask each other what their school day is like and they all say it's boring, boring, boring."
However, the initiative has sparked interest among Bayfield High School pupils, and Mrs McBryde said she was keen to contact another school in another part of the world for similar video links.
