I have nothing against giving young people a break on the pricing if it in some way encourages more participation in the hobby. The thing that puzzles me is why young folks who can afford designer sneakers and cell phones can't afford the fees associated with the license application. You might say they are not paying for those items their parents are and as long as the young people are contributing to the family welfare like chores around the house that's all good. The parents can also be the source of the licensing application fee.
I'd like to see the League give tests for free to those 18 and under. Well worth doing a Cost Benefit Analysis at HQ.
The Laurel VEC has testing for everyone for free, has always been that way. Your local VE team can join Laurel, and be able to administer free exams, if that is important to people.
AWESOME! I have been trying to get our local club to do radio events at schools to promote the hobby to younger folks. The fee reduction would certainly go hand-in-hand with a school event as well as be a bit more enticing for parents.
I agree. Problem is that kind of realistic factual logic does not fit the League’s narrative that we must have more youth in the hobby in order to survive. So, you can now consider that box checked.
And when can we expect a break for older folks on fixed incomes so they can help the hobby survive? Why the discrimination?
This tells me that Laurel testing along with the application fee has been killing the ARRLs testing sessions for youngsters.
I don’t think it’s necessarily discrimination. The League for whatever paranoid reasons feel the need to check the youth box and this is just one of those attempts. The current powers that be do not see the same value in helping an older person or for that matter trying to engage the older demographic of society that make up the majority of this hobby and always have. It is what it is. Hopefully one day some folks with some sense will take the helm.
Why the break for juveniles and not the geriatrics? See the cover of the current issue of QST magazine as to why. P.S. - I'm old enough to recall Mid-Century Modern design when it was new.
Funny how older folks think that just because the lived to be "old" that they need stuff for cheap or free. You could have kept working. And, yes, I'm older and retired but don't ask for free stuff because I planned my financial life accordingly.
I don't ask for free stuff either I don't need it. Why should free stuff be offered to all young people even if they don't need it and not to those in the older population who may be in need of it?
If you're concerned about the fee, Laurel VEC offers seniors free testing. Of course, everyone else gets free testing also. Why pay for testing if you don't have to?
To soon to mention they fund this by raising the cost of the magazine? Last month, I counted from the back cover..... 21 pages in a row of nothing but adds...... (those adds are not free) ..... Im about to start my own radio league.
