To high school teachers and parents everywhere – next time a teenager makes you scratch your head in wonder – consider any of the 75 insights that Beloit College has to share about teens today.

They grew up in mini-vans with virtual pets to feed; they’re wireless yet always connected, and have spent more time listening to what comes through their headphones than what comes out of adults’ mouths.

Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America, Google has always been a verb and text messaging is their email.

These insights were drawn from this year’s Beloit College Mindset List, which can be found at www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/ and was compiled to provide a view of the experiences and events that have shaped the worldview of 18-year-olds.

So remind yourself that brides in their lifetime have always worn white for a first, second or third wedding, they prefer going out in groups as opposed to dating, and have watched wars and revolutions live on TV.

A quick look at the cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of this crop of college freshmen who have only known two presidents and who learned to surf the internet as they learned to read, provides powerful insight into how they see the world.

Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited, there have always been live organ donors, they have access to their own credit cards and cellular phones, and they have never put their money in a Savings & Loan.

Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on supermarket shelves, Disney Land has always been in Asia, while Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the U.S.

Bad behavior is always being captured on amateur videos and appearing on the internet, the Soviet Union has never existed, and one major U.S. airline has always been bankrupt.

This generation is trying to navigate a very different landscape than its predecessors did and it proceeds with little deference for roadmaps. And while this has often been the case in the U.S., Alexis de Tocqueville noted in 1831 that each generation of Americans is like a new people; it always sets the stage for new takes on how to go about nearly everything.

This current generation has rarely gone to the post office to mail something with a stamp, Retin-A has always made America look less wrinkled, green tea has always been marketed for health purposes, while small white holiday lights have always been in style.

They have grown up disappearing in “big box” stores. They have never heard anyone actually ring something up on a cash register, there has always been one Germany, and they know there’s a good chance that the job they’re going to do at age 30 may not be invented until they’re 29.

A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents and a latte has always taken longer to get than a soda. The moral majority has never needed an organization, and DNA finger printing has always been admissible evidence in court.

Bar codes have always been on everything from library cards to snail mail, Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach, and Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.

There has never been a skyhook in the NBA, carbon copies are oddities found in a rare old box in an over packed attic, reality shows have always been on TV, and everyone is always delighted with life and the latest unnecessary product on infomercials.

They witnessed snowboarding and beach volleyball come of age and Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice, while LoJack transmitters have always been finding stolen cars.

Men don’t have to grow bald, disposable contacts have always been available, “outing” has always been a threat, and Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been a perfect graduation gift.

They have always “dissed” what they don’t like, the U.S. has always been studying global warming, Ringo Starr has always been sober (unless something just appeared on your BlackBerry), and professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

And if you dare to weigh in on any of this make your point in a hurry: this generation grows impatient with computers that take more than a nanosecond to complete an operation.