It can be scary out there in H2G2-land where there are so many adults talking about the importance of a jolly good bathroom cleaner. This is the Young Researchers' Club! It's a place for anyone under the age of 18 to hang out, get help, advice, to rant about the stupidity of their parents, or really get down to the important things in life¹

What Can I Do Here?

Ah now there's a question! What do young people do normally?

Life

It's horribly difficult being a kid sometimes! Adults always forget this and go all misty-eyed and talk about how childhood and teenage-hood is the best time of your life. But we know it sucks being a kid or a teenager sometimes. Therefore, if you want to moan, groan, or even get practical advice about anything, we have a Life Thread for it! Because this is H2G2 we've got people who have gone through, or are going through the trauma of horrible parents, step-parents, being gay, being straight, being depressed, fancying the coolest person in the entire school, not being able to play the piano...

If you have a REALLY BIG problem then please take a look at these links and contact one of them. We can't solve everything in the world and we want you to be safe and happy. If you need help please get the right help for you.

School

It's a sad truth that we all have to go to school, whether we start at the age of four, six, or 42. So education is definitely something that links us all together. If you need help with your homework, or reckon you might be able to help other people, then nip along to our Homework Thread. If you're interested in languages, then make a mad dash to The Language Thing and people there will be able to help with work and teach you to talk all the local slang.

Music

Whatever music you like, you'll find someone who likes it too! Share your musical experiences, which bands are hot, which are not, and exactly why you think so. Whether you like Franz Ferdinand, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Brittany Spears, Buddy Holly....you get the idea...Dash towards the Music Thread,we want to hear about them!

Books

There is a sneaking feeling among old people that the yoof of today just doesn't read anything. We all know this isn't true!! Tell us what you're reading, what you think of it, who might like it. If you don't know what to read right now then also hop along here. Tell us what sort of thing you like and the perfect book for you will stroll along. Make your way to the Book Thread. Don't forget to check out the H2G2 Book Club as well.

The World

Every now and then we all get very conscious of the world around us. We rant about George Bush, or organic food. We feel a need to argue about international relations. And just because we are young doesn't mean that our opinions aren't important! So if you want serious political, green, or conscientious banter, check out The World

Everything Else!

Some things just don't fit neatly into a catagory! It happens! You might want to talk about this cool new game you got for your PS2 but you're stuck on level 5 and can anyone help and...? Or you might want to talk about how utterly stupid the new education system that has just been brought in for your year is. Whatever it is, however silly or serious, there's a place for it in Everything Else.

Current Events

Is something happening in H2G2 that you want everyone to know? Do you have a suggestion about improving The Young Researchers' Club? Do you need to talk about grabbing members, losing members, sitting on members? Then Current Events is the place to be.

Joining Up

No proof of age required, birth certificates are not something you need to produce! However try not to be a 50 year old weirdo. It creates paperwork and scares the italics.

Just to keep everyone safe, to make sure we don't get in trouble with the italics...a short announcement will follow from the BBC Rules:

"If you're Under Age 16:

Please get your parents' or guardians' permission before taking part in h2g2 or any other BBC Discussion Message Board.

Never reveal any personal information about yourself (for example, your telephone number, home address or email address) without getting your parents' or guardians' permission first."