W7NI notes:
>The main reason there are no kids in contesting today is because there are
>no kids in contesting today. Kids like to do what their friends like to do.
>Kids want to earn the respect and admiration of their peers. Their peers
>don't do radio contesting. A kid that does spend time doing it is clearly
>an "odd-ball" that likes to play games with old fogies that are one or two
>generations older than he is. This will clearly not earn him the respect of
>his peers.
When I got my license as a kid (14) I was an odd-ball (many would say I
haven't changed much). There was no social status to being a ham, it was
just the opposite - but it was a way for a geek to talk to people as a peer.
Good stuff for a shy kid. I suspect not much has really changed.
73 Tom
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E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
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