boomtube-mk2
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The only way to get a teenager interested in anything is to make it an app for their iPhone.
Don't feed them until you both get back from flying rockets !This topic shows up regularly on the Model Railroad forums.
They don't have any answers either.
This topic shows up regularly on the Model Railroad forums.
They don't have any answers either.
Simple answer . . . Cut off their phones & internet, until they submit to the "ghost of G. Harry Stine" . . . They may not be happy, building & flying rockets, but they will learn a valuable life lesson that "privileges come at a price" !I was torn with either of my smart @#$ responses and couldn't decide, so here are both, equally as helpful.
1: Why are the model railroad folks wanting to get teenagers interested in rocketry?
2: Tell the kid it is either rocketry or model railroading, his choice.
I did try to make a few possibly helpful ideas earlier, so hopefully this post at least is slightly funny.
Sandy.
You've got a teenage wife?Teenagers are old enough that you need to engage them and try to find out what their interests are. For example, my wife is interested in exactly one area of rocketry--finding the rocket after touchdown. So the first step would be to talk to the teen and ask what (if anything) in rocketry they're interested in. If it's nothing, it's probably not worth forcing the issue. That's the path toward hurt feelings.
If it was me and I'd dragged the teen to the launch, I'd probably at least ask that they help with recovery and maybe taking pictures at the pad rather than just sitting in the car.
The kind of girl who saw me as a dweeb for preferring rockets to cars would be someone I wouldn't want anything to do with anyway."Back in the day" ( 1970's - 1980's ) cars were integral to attracting girls ( in South Florida, at least ). I used to drag race and do a LOT of street racing and that "bad boy" image worked wonders. Of course, I wasn't trying to attract "church girls" . . . LOL !
Girls, back then, tended to view Rocketeers, as "Geeks", "Nerds", and/or "Eggheads", so Rocketry was not the primary focus !
Dave F.
Ah, yes, caring-what-other-people-thinkitis. An affliction that affects far too many people, especially teenagers.- Almost none of your friends will think this is a cool thing to do!
Well, THAT was poorly written in my part. There was a segue there in my mind, just not on paper.You've got a teenage wife?
The people for whom high school was the best years of their lives tend to live a pretty sad adult life.HIGH SCHOOL IS TEMPORARY is something I'm thankful to have figured out early on, and it's something I hope to be able to impress on my own kids.
Both are available merit badges for Scouts BSA. I am a merit badge counselor for both and regularly attend scout meetings so that I might occasionally promote them. It isn't much, but we can all do something.I was torn with either of my smart @#$ responses and couldn't decide, so here are both, equally as helpful.
1: Why are the model railroad folks wanting to get teenagers interested in rocketry?
2: Tell the kid it is either rocketry or model railroading, his choice.
I did try to make a few possibly helpful ideas earlier, so hopefully this post at least is slightly funny.
Sandy.
I keep trying to tell my three teenagers that you don't want to peak in high school--it gets so much better--but I don't think they believe me because, obviously, I'm not very cool.The people for whom high school was the best years of their lives tend to live a pretty sad adult life.
As long as they figure it out eventually...I keep trying to tell my three teenagers that you don't want to peak in high school--it gets so much better--but I don't think they believe me because, obviously, I'm not very cool.
I already to tell my 7-year-old that, lol.I can relate to the "my parents are sooo stupid and don't know anything" thing that teens do. I tell my 13-year old that while he thinks he knows everything and is immortal and nothing bad can happen to him, that I have 4x his life experience and if he's going to be stupid, its going to hurt.
One of my older brothers once explained to me that high school (actually k-12) isn't where you really learn, it's where you begin to learn the fundamentals of learning. College teaches you *how* to learn. Grad school is a test of how well you learn with direction. And a doctoral program is where you choose what *you* want to learn, learn it, then demonstrate (and teach) to others that you've learned something.I keep trying to tell my three teenagers that you don't want to peak in high school--it gets so much better--but I don't think they believe me because, obviously, I'm not very cool.
The people for whom high school was the best years of their lives tend to live a pretty sad adult life.
High School was a four-year primer on what Hell might be like.
It was a place I didn't want to be at, surrounded by people I didn't want to be with.
Which sounds a lot like a Federal Prison.
Ask all you want! Haha i’m 14. I’ve been into this insane hobby for 3 1/2ish years. I’m hooked honestly. We’ve had a ton of things go wrong and LOTS of things go flawlessly. Stuff happens. And it happens to the best of us. The Tripoli Mentoring Program is the way to go in my opinion if you are close to my age. My dad is L2 and even that was a stretch getting him to fly a J motor. I’m now capable of flying up to L motors which i’m perfectly happy with. The biggest i’ve flown (at the moment) was a 75/2560 K560 load in my wm motoreater98 to about 7,300ft. Redundant systems and everything. I have a Dr. Rocket 75/5120 case i’m hoping to stuff a CTI L1395 BS in for next month to break my personal altitude record and jump to 15k. Should be exciting. But my point is, If i can do it, lots of others my age can aswell. Not everyone my age is into it and i’ve learned that over the years. I don’t think forcing the hobby on anyone is necessary. It’s supposed to be fun. Anyways in rocketry there’s a HUGE variety of things there are to do and have fun with. Some people like the estes kits and put insane amounts of time into them and they look amazing. Some people like just painting them or building etc. You get my point haha. There’s lots of cool things you can do. Everyone is different. I like anything from an estes luna bug to however big a rocket you can think of. I find it amazing. I’m done ranting now so ask questions if you want haha!Instead of us trying to figure out teenagers, wouldn't it be better to ask the teenagers that are involved, what it is they like and then promote those aspects back to the other teenagers.
Ks for kids. That might work once.Ask all you want! Haha i’m 14. I’ve been into this insane hobby for 3 1/2ish years. I’m hooked honestly. We’ve had a ton of things go wrong and LOTS of things go flawlessly. Stuff happens. And it happens to the best of us. The Tripoli Mentoring Program is the way to go in my opinion if you are close to my age. My dad is L2 and even that was a stretch getting him to fly a J motor. I’m now capable of flying up to L motors which i’m perfectly happy with. The biggest i’ve flown (at the moment) was a 75/2560 K560 load in my wm motoreater98 to about 7,300ft. Redundant systems and everything. I have a Dr. Rocket 75/5120 case i’m hoping to stuff a CTI L1395 BS in for next month to break my personal altitude record and jump to 15k. Should be exciting. But my point is, If i can do it, lots of others my age can aswell. Not everyone my age is into it and i’ve learned that over the years. I don’t think forcing the hobby on anyone is necessary. It’s supposed to be fun. Anyways in rocketry there’s a HUGE variety of things there are to do and have fun with. Some people like the estes kits and put insane amounts of time into them and they look amazing. Some people like just painting them or building etc. You get my point haha. There’s lots of cool things you can do. Everyone is different. I like anything from an estes luna bug to however big a rocket you can think of. I find it amazing. I’m done ranting now so ask questions if you want haha!
William
Yes, not everyone my age can fly that large. You hopefully understood my point. I don’t encourage inexperienced kids to fly K and L motors. I’m just saying, you can reach any level. Just know what you are doing, how to do it, and have experience. There are many people such as your self that have greater knowledge than me. But i’d say i’m fairly decent at what I do haha.Ks for kids. That might work once.
I would really try to take him along. Attending a launch, and with his son, might be enough to lift him. Covid has caused a lot of mental health issues and people are disinclined to talk about it. I have been hit by depression and am just trying to make it through and out the other side. Not winning yet, but not losing currently either. The scary thing is that I am the most sane person I know and it has got me.He’s been pretty reluctant to go though, reluctant to do much of anything together as a matter of fact. He’s very surly and distant in general, sucked into the network systems he’s charged with debugging in his job. Maybe I could start a new thread on how to get a 60-year-old interested in anything?
It should be noted that the OP was asking on behalf of another club member, but I’d agree with what’s presented here. It needed to be said.The single best thing to destroy a kid's interest in rocketry is to continue to try to get them into rocketry after they've declined.
This isn't a joke, and it isn't a comment about how grrrrr the kids are so rebellious these days. Teenagers aren't stupid. The kid in question has recognized that you trying to get him into rocketry isn't generosity, it's selfishness. That's harsh, but it's true: you aren't doing this because you want him to have more fun, you're doing this because you want to have more fun yourself. He's tried it, he's not interested, and no further interrogation is needed.
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