Nothing has changed. We still need to bring the youngsters into the hobby.
When was the last time you invited your neighbor and his kid(s) to talk on your radio?
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205
That is actually such a good point!!! I had friends over the other day and did not think of doing that. Heck, even on VHF or UHF, does not have to be HF.
Great suggestion Dick.
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My three kids got their licenses between the ages of 10 and 11. My experienced is that up to about 12 years old, they are receptive and eager to get the license, but studying for the test has to be fun and at times hands on.
I wanted to follow my grandfathers footsteps. In my case grandpa just game books and cassettes to study the material and the code. At that young age I did not understand anything and I did not have an Elmer to guide me and make it fun. It wasn’t till my late teens that I got my ticket by going to classes.
In Scouting, I give the Radio Merit Badge. Following the guidelines of how a Scout earns the badge, I make the class as fun as possible, give them hands on, and try my best to add History of Radio, radio devices in their home, and how many of the 130+ badges are related to radio.
After about 12 years old, their interest goes to other things. The Scouting “Jamboree on the Air” and many other activities, are great moments to introduce them to Amateur Radio. Helping out at Science Centers with Amateur Radio gear is also great place to show Ham Radio.
At times the kids are enthusiastic and want to get heir license, unfortunately some adult undermines the effort.
Bobby KP4CI
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That’s a really great point Bobby, that there is a cutoff date to effortless learning. Another great point is that it has to be fun. Gets me thinking that even I have been focussing on the wrong age group. I think that we tend to default to teenagers assuming that the younger ones don’t yet have the necessary foundations. And yet, time and time again, we hear of pre-teens getting licensed. Maybe it’s time to create a learning program for them? If you think about it, our learning materials are very dry; let’s create something fun, colorful, exciting!! Food for thought for sure!!
- 10
I commend Icom for having made the Zack and Max comic books . My first two kids could not wait for the next issues when they were about 8 to 9 years old. It made it fun. This enticed them to ask permission to talk on the local repeater on the morning commute to school. They learned the intricacies of talking on VHF, UHF. I would ID at the end of their transmission.
I have tried to talk to programmers to come up with a video game that “Hides” the Amateur Radio intentions, making it fun, for everyone, with scavenger hunts, or daily activities and see what they can come up with to get messages across, or emergency scenarios. One video game company did do a game where code was sent, but more of a feature in the game than an interaction between player and game.
(Circa 1980’s/ 90’s) There was a gentleman (SK) that had made a program to entice the Teenage group with “Texting their friends” via packet before cell phones were accessible to the people at an affordable price. He passed the material and all the ideas along to the organization, ready to be printed and promoted. That organization dismissed it immediately. They are famous for “It’s not created in house, we don’t want it, it’s not good.” Lost opportunity.
I have tried to get radio in middle and high school, but with all of the laws now, you have to go through so much red tape of Child Protection training, Background check, sometimes Financial check, and then if you pass all of that, you have no place at school to install the equipment and use it. We do need to better educate the teachers and or get the word out. Maybe the schools that have this program should be tapped and help promote it.
What I hear from many Educators across the country is, ” We have to teach so that students pass the assessment test, if not I am fired or my paycheck is cut”.
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