BRITAIN is in danger of educating a generation of “homo zappiens” who occupy a virtual rather than real world, says Nicholas Hammond, head of the �9,990 a year Wisbech Grammar School.

BRITAIN is in danger of educating a generation of “homo zappiens” who occupy a virtual rather than real world, says Nicholas Hammond, head of the �9,990 a year Wisbech Grammar School.

Mr Hammond says these youngsters “play sport on screen rather than on a pitch or perform music using plastic replicas rather than real instruments.”

“Cynics might see them as the Wii generation,” he says in his annual report.

He says this new generation of young people “communicate not only face to face but through 24 hour platforms such as social networking sites and their ever present mobiles.

“They speak a different language and hold new values. This is the aspect of the younger generation that poses a threat to those who do not inhabit the same world.”

However he says those who write off this generation as being divorced from reality have not met any of his 600 pupils.

“Whilst we no doubt have our fair share of enthusiasts for virtual worlds, our community is of the real rather than the virtual kind,” he says. “The pupils uphold the fine traditions of the school but are ready to innovate. They stand up for what they know to be right.”