We lag behind the rest of Europe when it comes to the internet. Despite the popularity in Ireland of sites such as Bebo.com and Myspace. com, we rank 24th out of 25 countries in terms of how much school and college students use the web, according to a recent report. That's why, by getting young people to use the internet more, www.gradu8.net could help push us up the rankings.

The site is the home of the Graduate Online Youth Quiz, whose weekly questions have answers that you should be able to find on the internet. Operating during the academic year, it asks questions about areas such as the arts, the environment, politics, health and safety, the Irish language, music, sport and European affairs. There's a good bit of learning involved, but the quiz's big attraction is its prizes.

"I'll be going to New York, Washington and Philadelphia," says one of the winners, a transition-year student from Claremorris, in Co Mayo, named Alan Benson. "We'll be going to the UN and the White House." Alan, who does the quiz every week, says he couldn't believe it when his friends told him that Nikki Hayes had announced him as a winner on her 2FM show. "I was a bit shocked," he says. "I waited until the names were published on the website before really believing it."

Hayes announces five winners a week; their prizes include trips to Europe and the US, iPods, computers and Xboxes. Seventeen other students will be joining Alan to cross the Atlantic, on April 20th.

The quiz is only a part of the site, which also has links to educational tools, movie news, sport and more. "It's not a boring website," says Alan. "There are games and things on it. Teachers like it, too, because it's full of safe links." He likes the lack of pop-up advertisements and the fact that it's free. "I probably won't win again," he says. "But the prizes are very attractive, and it's fun as well."

The Graduate Online Youth Quiz continues until the end of May. To enter, log on to www.gradu8.net