Scale Modeling and Youth?

[Tom Geiger]

Tom ,realistically how many kids even CARE about scouting anymore?

Gary- I thought we were discussing how to motivate today's youth to build models, NOT to just belittle how stupid they are.  In this thread I gave example of a model club in NJ formed by guys in their twenties,  and offered an observation that there wasn't a suitable merit badge related to automobiles.  As far as Boy Scouts, I was involved as a kid, but didn't have sons so I haven't seen the organization in a very long time.  How relevant it is today?  Our county Boy Scout association is building a huge activity center up on the highway near my house.  So somebody is in scouting today.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thing is though, young people get interested in things outside what their horizon-limited peers know by involved adults who maybe try to understand a little of what younger people ARE interested in (you have to admit that the POTENTIAL of today's technology is mind-boggling if you really THINK about it), and take the time, make the effort to show them a world many don't even know EVER existed.

No, not every kid is going to give a rat's rear, but there are SOME to whom model-building just might open an otherwise unimaginable future.

[Brett Barrow]

I'd just like to say that I helped 5 people pick out first model car kits today, (all but one were kids) so I'm doing my part!  Lots of new faces in the shop today! Must be the Pope visit!

Edited September 26, 2015 by Brett Barrow

[GaryR]

I'm not trying to belittle anyone. I don't hate kids or think they are all stupid. The media driven, money driven world they have inherited is what I think is stupid.

Not belittling scouts either, simply saying Scouting, like modeling and hot rodding isn't what it once was.

WHY feel the need to motivate kids to build models? don't get it.

I helped a kid in our apartments with his car models and his project 32 Chrysler 1;1. I'd help anyone that asked.

I'm NOT a hell in a handbasket guy at all. Sorry if that what you get from my comments.

Ok, I don't like trollish negative comments, so if that's how I'm being perceived, I'll bow out. Don't wish to derail anything. No problem.

 

Edited September 26, 2015 by GaryR

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

  I get this all the time, kids in Hondas ( har har) ... that wan to drag... because the Mustang stands out.

Well sir, I know of a couple of street-driven hot-rod B-16 powered Hondas around here that would most likely eat your Mustang's lunch.

But there have been twinks-without-a-clue in every generation, mine included. A LOT of them.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[GaryR]

I'm sure that's true. My point is simple, cars are no longer a focal point for todays kids, it's very different than say,1965. That's it.
As I said umpteen times in my other posts, kids are entitled to their own interests AND THE WORLD CHANGES! Simple eh?

I think I made it very clear I get why kids aren't interested.lease READ ALL my posts.

Being a car guy isn't cool anymore, I get it, Don't care. Different times!

Edited September 26, 2015 by GaryR

[Quick GMC]

And what exactly IS their world?

From what I see in my daily experience:

Constant communication about mostly nothing of any importance whatsoever, a society that's pretty much free of actual IDEAS, almost unbelievable widespread ignorance of science, math and history, and a mindless reliance on completely unnecessary "technology".

this is what all elder people say in every generation. I'll probably say the same thing at your age. The world as you know if changes  and it's not easy to understand how these people can possibly like what they like. The English language is changing, acceptable behaviors, etc. It's the way it goes whether we like it or not

[av405]

From what I read most millenials don't care about driving or cars. They use Uber ( LOL) to get somewhere and seem to think a perfect world is never leaving their living space for much of anything. This goes back to the LHS vs the inernet thing.

Why this seems so cool is beyond me! like driverless cars, woo woo. Give me a break.

I think it's dumb and pathetic, BUT it's irrelevant what I think. Tell a kid they are missing out and you get a blank stare and are written off immediately as a know nothing old coot. I don't CARE anyway.

What?  Do you even know what uber is mostly used for? It's replacing the traditional taxi, not one's want to drive back and forth to most places. Most of my fellow millenials use uber as a designated driver when going out to drink or for trips to the airport. 

If anything I would write you off as an "old coot" because I feel like your statements on this thread are inaccurate and overblown. 

And I haven't met a single person who thinks a driver less car is something to look forward to.

[GaryR]

"I feel like your statements on this thread are inaccurate and overblown. "

  I never claimed to do research on this, IF you actually read what I wrote, I said according to what I read.

I've seen this for several years ALL OVER the web, I didn't invent it. Why are you steamed anyway?

As for driverless cars, who you have "met" is irrelevant, I didn't just invent that either.

It's all over the news and Google and Tesla are spending a ton  of money on them

As for Uber, if they only got revenue for being designated drivers and airport ferries they'd already be broke!

Again, why are you steamed? It's a simple fact that cars don't mean what they once did. I'm not trashing young people, I'm doing the opposite.

It's the older people that imagine young people MUST have the same values they do.

I can't begin to imagine WHY you'd take any of this personally, relax a re read what I said.

[GaryR]

Here's some examples of what I've read

http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/buying-a-car-how-millennials-do-it-differently-218419

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/14/the-many-reasons-millennials-are-shunning-cars/

 

http://www.npr.org/series/213540069/millennials-and-the-changing-car-culture

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/07/25/more-data-shows-that-millennials-dont-like-driving/

 

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/15/technology/uber-bill-gurley-sxsw/

If you have a gripe, it's with them, not me.

Now I have to provide cites and footnotes on the car model board? LOL 

[charlie8575]

Exactly.

But unlike some of you, I believe we have an obligation to the future, and igniting the spark of interest in MAKING THINGS in just one young person might be the act that resonates down through the long-term survival of the human species, rather than letting its fire dim and die.

This.

And I try to fulfill this obligation. 

I teach my Squire boys (De Molay's answer to the Cub Scouts for boys 9-12) about history, math (as far as I can,) science, government, philosophy, economics and literature so they'll have a fighting chance at being fully civilized adult men.

And I build models with them- cars, mostly, and one of the boys' dads builds plank-by-plank ships, and I suspect he'll be trying it sometime, too. 

Last year, we tried gingerbread houses. They loved it; some of them were total disasters, but they had a blast.

My boys love cars, trains, boats, planes and space.

And I'll be the first to tell you that the vast majority of them find the cars of the past far more interesting than the cars of today. 

Charlie Larkin

 

 

[av405]

 

If you have a gripe, it's with them, not me.

I am neither steamed nor griped. You made generalized comments about my generation and I felt compelled to respond as I felt they were inaccurate. Isn't that the purpose of a discussion board? And how could my comments on who I've met be irrelevant when you have to be able to talk to other people to see what the general feelings about something are?

As for cars not meaning what they once did, well again I'm a young guy so I won't claim how anybody pre-1990's felt about them at that time. They still mean something, but that meaning has evolved. I'm sure the guys who grew up on horses and carriages felt the same way when they saw younger people in cars: "Transportation doesn't mean what it once did."  I will admit that my generation is probably not as mechanically savvy as previous generations, although I wonder how much of that has to do with the increasing technological sophistication of cars.

Now please, stop saying that I'm steamed or taking this personally just because I disagree with you. I'm commenting on a DISCUSSION board and letting my opinions be known, just as you are.

But perhaps we're moving a bit off-topic. I think we can agree to disagree if all else fails

Edited September 27, 2015 by av405

[chunkypeanutbutter]

1: My point is simple, cars are no longer a focal point for todays kids, it's very different than say,1965. That's it.

2: Being a car guy isn't cool anymore, I get it, Don't care. Different times!

1: Kids, yes, ages below, say, 12. Beyond that, oh yeah. Roadkill, Gas Dork... ahem, Gas Monkey Garage, Ken Block, Top Gear, and so on, these are all commonly overheard things at my school and have been for years.

2: Once again, yes, it is. My friend just bought a BMW 312i to work on the other day. Drove it 50 miles home from where he bought it. I myself am now attempting to sell my beloved stereo system to get a '74 Midget. 9/10 guys in school are gearheads of some kind, mostly lifted trucks around here, but gearheads nonetheless. It's not the "in" thing, the be-all-end-all: it's a very important sector, however, one that will never lose stature in any high school. Build a car in less than a year, make it fast, impress at least one girl, drive recklessly, sell it two years after graduating, and wish you hadn't for the rest of your life - sound familiar?

[Richard Bartrop]

When I first got into models, It was hot rods, and show cars for me, but I was also really into the chassics which, at the time were maybe all of fourty wears old.  I liked them b precisely because they weren't like what was on the streets.  They were artifacts of the strange and mysterious world that existed before I was born.  I got into automotive histroy because I was curious about where the world I lived in came from.  Sure,. most of today's youth are going to be oblivious to the past, just like most of theri elders were, bot some are going to be curious.

 

And here's a Millenial's reaction to the notion that they don't like cars.

http://jalopnik.com/youth-car-culture-isnt-dead-this-washington-post-story-1728346138

Edited September 27, 2015 by Richard Bartrop

[dieseldawg142]

.........

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Spex84]

I'm convinced the whole "Millenial" thing has been fabricated by the media to generate page-clicks and ad revenue   There are snippets of truth woven through it all, but a lot of it seems to be wishful opinion presented as fact.

Maybe the conversation needs to be about parenting...it's not necessarily about "making kids like models"...it's about exposing them to the opportunity and seeing if it sticks.

So in a roundabout way, I'm back at the "make and take" concept--which happens to be a good one, and I hope such programs continue as long as possible. If all older people said "I don't really give a darn if kids build models"...well, guess what, they aren't going to build models, unless they learn about them from Instagram or something. 

 

[ERIK88]

Here's some examples of what I've read

 

http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/buying-a-car-how-millennials-do-it-differently-218419

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/14/the-many-reasons-millennials-are-shunning-cars/

 

http://www.npr.org/series/213540069/millennials-and-the-changing-car-culture

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/07/25/more-data-shows-that-millennials-dont-like-driving/

 

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/15/technology/uber-bill-gurley-sxsw/

If you have a gripe, it's with them, not me.

Now I have to provide cites and footnotes on the car model board? LOL 

yes! From now on you shall provide in text citations and a reference page  lol

[Daddyfink]

Honestly, who cares. 

I am a bit greedy with my hobby and I rarely share it anymore. Most folks today don't care, so why should I bother. 

I know it is a bleak outlook, but why worry about it. I worry more about trying to finish what I start!! 

[fumi]

The point is....this kid is clueless about cars! The Mazda3 is a fine car, I also own a Mazda6, but it ain't fast! The kids SO CLUELESS he doesn't get he might as well be walking against a Mustang, Challenger, Camaro etc. I get this all the time, kids in Hondas ( har har) and, get this... Toyota corollas that want to drag. Their own "special" world! I get "challenged" because the Mustang stands out.

 

Funny you mentioned that, because in the Facebook car modelling groups I am in, kids are turning out great works on Hondas and Toyotas, works that can rival many builds in here.  Especially with the Revell Honda kits that people keep saying Revell couldn't give away.  They are not just building them straight out of the box but also parting them out to swap the engine and mechanical into other curbside kits.

There are definitely young people building models, they are just not hanging out in the typical forums or LHS.  Many of them are attracted to Facebook groups where they can share their builds and talk about model cars with people all over the world.  No memes, no flames, and no lectures on how lame a particular genre or build style is.