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”.
