the trouble with kids these days...

[m3egf]

...is that they cant sit still. it isnt like back in the day when kids could sit on the carpet and be entertained with lego or mechano kids these days are not happy unless they are running circles around their parents demanding that they have everything and anything they see. i know kids are the future and all that but i think it is young adults such as myself that need enticing as this hobby is far too complex for a child to understand. and how do i know this? well im teaching 5-11 year olds at the minute and they cant get their head around basic arithmatic let alone the physics involved in this wonderful hobby. i cant help feelin that encouraging kids is going to just cause extra debt for parents.

[kd8dey]

I think that they came up with the term ADHD and riddelin for that.:D

[KD0BIK]

the trouble with kids these days...

Are you certain this is the only generation walking around saying this? Are things different now than what they were when I grew up? Sure.....

Let's not be quick to point at the kids....a lot of the issues stem from the parents and lack of parenting.

But to keep things on topic, there are plenty of examples of youth (today and yesterday) in the hobby that proves this hobby isn't too complex for them. Should we be concerned that most 5 year olds can't grasp the fundamentals??

NO....the 5 year olds need to be out playing in the dirt and not trying to learn complex arithmetic.

Jerry

[k8wpj]

...is that they cant sit still. it isnt like back in the day when kids could sit on the carpet and be entertained with lego or mechano kids these days are not happy unless they are running circles around their parents demanding that they have everything and anything they see. i know kids are the future and all that but i think it is young adults such as myself that need enticing as this hobby is far too complex for a child to understand. and how do i know this? well im teaching 5-11 year olds at the minute and they cant get their head around basic arithmatic let alone the physics involved in this wonderful hobby. i cant help feelin that encouraging kids is going to just cause extra debt for parents.

That's what happens when parents learned no other parenting skills beyond loading the lil darlings up with sugary snacks and parking them in front of the boob tube with it's rapid fire commercialism...

The kids are wired up and overloaded from the jump, and by the time school age comes around, they are labelled with 'ADHD' and fed more pills to offset the bad parenting...

Don;t beleive me?

Fine, the next time you are at Wally World, spend some time actually watching how parents treat their kids...

[kd8dey]

That's what happens when parents learned no other parenting skills beyond loading the lil darlings up with sugary snacks and parking them in front of the boob tube with it's rapid fire commercialism...

The kids are wired up and overloaded from the jump, and by the time school age comes around, they are labelled with 'ADHD' and fed more pills to offset the bad parenting...

Don;t beleive me?

Fine, the next time you are at Wally World, spend some time actually watching how parents treat their kids...

And to think that I always thought it was all the result of all the liberals making a good paddeling at school VERBOLTEN. spank the child go to prison.

Once upon a time it was spare the rod spoil the child. now its do anything to punish me and I will call Child protective services!!

[AB1FV]

I think that they came up with the term ADHD and riddelin for that.:D

There is a BIG difference between "Just being a kid" and having ADD.....believe me, I know! Oh, and it's spelled "Ritilian."

[KD0BIK]

and how do i know this? well im teaching 5-11 year olds at the minute and they cant get their head around basic arithmatic let alone the physics involved in this wonderful hobby. i cant help feelin that encouraging kids is going to just cause extra debt for parents.


So Bec....to get things back on subject. You said you were teaching 5-11 year olds and I'm assuming your attempting to teach them about amateur radio. Anyway...I commend you on this task. I know licensing is a little different in the UK, but how are you going about this?

I would expect you will have much better luck with the 9, 10 and 11 year olds than the 5-8 range. I've heard of a few that have been licensed at a early age....but I think that's the exception and not the rule.

Again, there are many examples of today's youth doing exceptionaly well with the hobby. One such individual who I've just really been able to get to know is Cal K0DXC. He's currently 13 and has been licensed for 3 years.
So it can be done.

Anyway...I'd like to know more about your methods of teaching and keep us posted on your progress.

Jerry

[K0DXC]

...is that they cant sit still. it isnt like back in the day when kids could sit on the carpet and be entertained with lego or mechano kids these days are not happy unless they are running circles around their parents demanding that they have everything and anything they see. i know kids are the future and all that but i think it is young adults such as myself that need enticing as this hobby is far too complex for a child to understand. and how do i know this? well im teaching 5-11 year olds at the minute and they cant get their head around basic arithmatic let alone the physics involved in this wonderful hobby. i cant help feelin that encouraging kids is going to just cause extra debt for parents.

That is only true in most cases. I learned Morse Code at 5 wpm when I was 8 years old!

[KU0DM]

...is that they cant sit still. it isnt like back in the day when kids could sit on the carpet and be entertained with lego or mechano kids these days are not happy unless they are running circles around their parents demanding that they have everything and anything they see. i know kids are the future and all that but i think it is young adults such as myself that need enticing as this hobby is far too complex for a child to understand. and how do i know this? well im teaching 5-11 year olds at the minute and they cant get their head around basic arithmatic let alone the physics involved in this wonderful hobby. i cant help feelin that encouraging kids is going to just cause extra debt for parents.


When I was a little kid, I used to play with legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys, etc for hours, would get a little box of legos or a kit for Christmas or my B-day, and would just start building without looking at the instructions!

I think the problem is how you are teaching them, with all due respect. Kids that age most likely have no interest or comprehension for physics and math. I'm not sure how you are teaching them, but you, and most everyone I have watched try and teach kids ham radio, need to move away from long lectures, and your huge passion for electronics, or morse code, and focus on hands on. I said morse code, because I know plenty of people that their "demo" of ham radio, is to make CW contacts, and expect the kids watching to be captivated by it. That may happen sometimes, it did for me and Cal, but most kids will not have a huge and lasting interest in beeps or math.

Focus on getting them on the radio, hands on activities. I recently finished 2 weeks of operating the radio, and familiarizing the kids with the hobby. What I did was talked about radio for 5 minutes, included what we do, how to get into it, and some other advantages of ham radio over phones. Then got them on the air. How did that work? We had 10-13 kids very interested, and 7 have signed up for a Ham Class that I help teach!

It's great that you are trying to teach them about the technical side, but until they are older and can understand fully, or have a great interest in the hobby, then you should avoid great technical or mathematic details

Just my 2 cents, not sure how much that is worth against the Euro. :p

[kb3laz]

Ah I have always been able to sit still, the problem is getting me to move.:D
Life would be some much better if I could sit for all of eternity, wait there is a name for that, DEATH!:rolleyes: I like ham radio and like to see true youth get involved however 5 year olds should be outside playing.When I was younger my grandparents (both hams) would regulate my time in front of the TV, video games and even my SWL time. They would say dont be lazy go out side and run around, get dirty, catch bugs, because your only a kid once and you have the rest of your life to be old.:eek: HAHAHAHA, I dont think the dont be lazy thing sunk in just look at my call sign.:D:p

[ve6wtf]

I myself was interested in ham radio since I was around 11 years old.
Because my Dah Dah di dit
Unfortunatly all I could do was glance at the manual.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 7, doped up every day just to sit at school and behave.
So, I started with CB radio. As trancievers were easy to come by at garage sales for cheap.
This kept me interested till I gained the math skills in school to actually comprehend what the Basic manual was talking about.

I firmly believe that if someone wants to do something they will put thier mind to it and do it.

[ab1ga]

There is a BIG difference between "Just being a kid" and having ADD.....believe me, I know! Oh, and it's spelled "Ritilian."

Ritalin.

:)

[K0DXC]

....................................

[KU0DM]

I don't know...some of them are kinda funny. :D

Kids=Terrorists....priceless! :p

[kb3laz]

I bet most of the tags we posted by adults.
Ironic isnt it children are suppose to be immature yet I see many snide childish comments from grown people every day. So I guess the life cycle is starting to become paradoxical. Start life in diapers with out a clue and it ends the same way. Just something to think about before one passes judgment.

[k8wpj]

And to think that I always thought it was all the result of all the liberals making a good paddeling at school VERBOLTEN. spank the child go to prison.

Once upon a time it was spare the rod spoil the child. now its do anything to punish me and I will call Child protective services!!

first, it's spelled 'verboten'...

Second, Paddling was eliminated from the schools because people were demanding parents take some RESPONSIBILTY for their spawn, and the school district didn't want the liability if a board employee got physical with a student...

It's never been the job of the schools to discipline the child, that's mummy and daddy's job, always has been...

[K0FK]

Oh, and it's spelled "Ritilian."Is it, really?

[n2ize]

Frankly I don't think children are any different today than they were years ago. When I was in school we always had kids who had differing attention spans.

Most kids find math extremely boring and difficult because it is taught to them that way. After all these years we still teach math in the most mundane and boring ways and then we're shocked as to why kids don;t do well or shy away from it. Because we teach it to them as a boring and formidable topic.

Math is probably one of the more interesting subjects. The thing about math is that one does not have to spend decades of study to get to the interesting ideas. There are so many elementary and fundimental ideas that are equally captivating if they are presented to young students properly. Unfortunately this is seldom done in school. For instance, the avatar accompanying my posts stems from a math problem that is commonly used to teach college freshman the idea of proof by induction. It involves the tiling of a (2^n) x (2^n) square area using L-shaped tiles. Although used in college a simplified version of this same problem could lend itself nicely to inspire elementary school children to think analytically.

The same is true of many other subjects.

In addition different children have different levels of attention span. There is no "one size fits all" yet, despite this after all these years we take a "one size fits all" approach to teaching children. :(

[KB1LQD]

Ok, I just quickly read through the posts and am confused as to where the topic is going or why its here? haha, My first thought when reading this is that it is just complaining about kids... kids and radio.... maybe I am wrong...

Why not talk about what we should do about kids and radio? The topic poster brought up a good point that I agree with... although every now and then a middle school aged kid stays into radio for a long time. but more often than not I think we get more success from high school aged kids..... what do the current students on this forum think that other classmates would be more interested in to grab their attention to amateur radio?

[ab8ma]

If a snapshot could be taken with the intent of measuring the maximum biological intelligence of all the life forms on the planet Earth, I bet the peak would be among the human race sample between the age of 4 and 11.

[m3egf]

actually im teaching all subjects...im teaching nothing to do with ham radio. my little brothers and sisters are licenced just as i was at 13 but i just dont beleive the kids over here are content enough to sit and have the patience you sometimes need when opperating.

[kj4cch]

the only thing i do is talk on thr radio and make my own things..
il tinker with something for a whole week then move on.
ow and don't forget the lawnmower!:mad:

[N4PRT]

All of you young people will know exactly what I am talking about here. Everyone is born with the capability to maximize certain sorts of learning skills--and apply them to develop interests that are a product of personality and what one is exposed to. If all one sees is television, video games, and completely structured activities, one's interests are going to arise from that.

"Childhood" as we know it now is a manufactured reality that has only come to pass since the end of World War II. Prior to that, kids were exposed to adult situations from birth--the result of large, close knit families and the need for everyone to participate in order to make a living--or to eat--as in living on a farm.

The truly lacking element today is imagination. One is not required to really use that marvelous ability--as most everything today is delivered in a predigested form that has a set structure. Too bad, as this reduces one of the most remarkable journeys the human mind can take--and also leads to curiosity and critical thinking.

If one is exposed to different things that require imagination, concentration, and persistence, then things happen. My interests, and those of many here on QRZ are a result of that. Take a look at the picture of my grandson--who will be three next month. He can amuse himself for an hour doing this--and loves to come out in the woodshop and help to make toys with the various tools. He plays with the piano and the guitar--because they are available to him. Television is limited--but playing independantly out in the yard or participating in interesting projects and household chores is not.

No telling how this will all come out--but in contrast he has three half brothers who were never exposed to anything but television and video games. They are idiots who are interested in nothing but those things. At 5-8 years greater in age, they have a less developed vocabulary than the three year old. Heredity may play important roles--but environment is key to the well rounded person.

http://n4prt.com/qrzphotos/anthony1.jpg

[KD6NIG]

BTW, Ritalin and stuff like that wasn't the first thing used to calm children down. Although it was never done by my parents, I think the first way to get children to sleep or calm down was a little whiskey on the pacifier.

I don't know if it worked or not :)

[kc9mav]

All I do is sit still thats why I am fat!

Haha I crack myself up.