 October 12, 2013 - 7:07pm | Another cracked.com article but if your trying to get your kids into gaming this might give you some ideas. Especially #4 http://www.cracked.com/article_20552_6-old-photos-kids-who-are-way-tougher-than-modern-adults.html Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 November 9, 2013 - 8:05am | When I see old pictures of the generations that proceeded us, I feel ashamed for my own generation's weakness. I'm trying to make my son strong but I worry it is hard to teach with only words, while we make his life too easy simply because we live in easy times and I earn a better level of wage than my folks did during my upbringings. Granted even my upbring'ings "poverty" was nothing compared to the Great Depression or poverty in other parts of the work. ----------------------------------------------- |
 November 9, 2013 - 5:09pm | I'm trying to make my son strong but I worry it is hard to teach with only words, while we make his life too easy simply because we live in easy times and I earn a better level of wage than my folks did during my upbringings. Granted even my upbring'ings "poverty" was nothing compared to the Great Depression or poverty in other parts of the work. The single greatest experience that has impacted my strength of character was a 50 mile hike with the Boy Scouts in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I didn't drop out after 2.5 days and finished (you had to finish if you didn't drop out) and earned a really cool patch for doing 50 miles on the Kit Carson trail that far an away blew away the std. Boy Scout patch and was the the envy of all the scouts back in NY. After that hike I always knew I could go into the woods for 5 days and survive and that gave me great confidence. Other things in life never seemed as great of a challenge as that and it created in me an attitude that I could simply endure difficulty and get through it. My parents had very little to do with that lesson other than arranging for me to join a scout troop in CA when we drove my dad to the West Coast that summer to visit family there and for him to fly to Korea for his tour there. It was simply something I learned for myself. As a step father and scout master for my sons troop I witnessed a tremendous impact in Scouting had in the lives of the inner city kids in my troop and we never did a 50 mile hike. I should specify that I didn't know how to be a scout master so I read all the material available and simply did what it said which means that I worked the program and not reworked it. There is a trend that I discovered in this area among suburban troops for the adults to run the program and modify it to suit themselves. despite having an inner city troop I made it a goal, as the program recommends to get the kids in the woods for 10 days of camping minimum out of the year. I forced the youth to lead the troop with me functioning as a mentor for the youth leaders and forced them to do the things that typically get done by well meaning adults in the suburban troops. I had too simply because I had no soccer moms but rather a bunch of spanish speaking only moms of questionable legal status which translated to very little parental support thus I was forced to drink the Boy Scout koolaid and work the program as published and amazingly it worked. I recently ran into one of my problem "kids" as an adult and he praised and thanked me for my efforts and the impact on him. So I recommend the program as long as its a traditional scouting program and not one that the adults are running because they know better. Just do the Baden-Powel program and it will work wonders. Now since my own biological children are girls I have discovered that girl scouting is a different kind of program and has not served the same purpose in my daughters' lives that boy scouting did in my step son's. To build their confidence I do a lot of empowerment things with them like the free Home Depot wood working projects on the first Saturday of every month and let them help me in cooking tasks and odd jobs around the house like changing a faucet. As a kid i helped my dad change the power stirring on our Mercury Zephyr and that gave me the confidence to fix my own car as an adult and even attempt my own head gasket change to which I sort of succeeded. Thus I hope to raise girls who have an attitude that they can do things because they have done things all through their youth. All of the things I recommend are a lot of work but the pay off is down the road if you perserver- my opinion. I'm going to be ready to totally lay on a beach and veg once my daughters are grown but I suspect that parenthood changes at that point when they like me start going back to dad for advice on things confronting them. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 9, 2013 - 7:05pm | Ah the Boy Scouts! My favorite youth movement. I have been a scout since I was 8 years old. Everywhere I've moved I have quickly joined a scout troop. I'm currently a scout master. I must say the best troops are then ones who stick to the program, have trained leader, and are boy lead. That is the way the BSA work now and that is tthe way Baden Powel got it working in the first place. I can recommend the Boy Scouts as a method to teach your boys how to be self reliant and confident. On an SF note I have thought many times about creating a scouting movement from the human worlds. -iggy |
 November 9, 2013 - 9:11pm | I was in the Cub Scouts and that was nice but, the impact on me was the Army. Once I survived that, I knew I could survive anything in this world and have. Man cannot lay down and stop breathing - you cannot give up. Life is about the wonderful highs and getting knocked down. But, once you are down - you get up, dust yourself off and start again. No matter what happens in life - I will ALWAYS strive to go forward, no matter how many times I get knocked down. |
November 9, 2013 - 9:15pm | People today would not appreciate High School girls learning to shoot in school or 11 year old children going to sea on their own or heaven forbid, if school was outside during the winter. As times have become modern, we become more tach-savy, but we move away from those times that we grew up with and heck - we did not turn out that bad! |
 November 26, 2013 - 9:08pm | My family and I made sure my kids learned a variety of stuff often not PC skills for the kids to have but the heck with idiot crazy adults who think everyone is in kindergarten till 18 and should be wrapped in bubble wrap. There were no gender specific activities or chores in my family. Everyone was raised to be independant adults capable of caring for themselves and others. The result is adults that can handle weapons safely, drive, navigate ships, play sports, play musical instruments, dance, do high tech stuff, emergency medicine, clean up, fish, hunt, cook and groom themselves. I am pretty good with that as mom. I think if you make time for the kids to learn stuff they can still learn this stuff today. You just sometimes have to unplug the computer. :) I have plans for my Grandchildren to learn to do all the same things as their parents. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 28, 2013 - 7:44pm | every time I open this thread I always expect it to be about gaming with our kids... forgetting I shot the thread off into a different direction. lol ----------------------------------------------- |
November 28, 2013 - 11:58pm | Well, I started a White Wolf campaign with my daughter. It was interesting the first couple of times but, it dropped of because of my work and she got sick for 2 weeks. |
 November 29, 2013 - 12:17am | I've been running a campaign with my kids for quite a while now. They are really into it, although lately the youngest two have started asking to play a Pokemon RPG instead... |
November 29, 2013 - 10:37pm | How old are your kids you are gaming with ? My only is 8, I've been thinking of getting him to play SF to help me know the system better. ----------------------------------------------- |
December 1, 2013 - 12:46am | My kids are currently 15, 12, 11 and 8. The youngest one tends to lose interest if I introduce concepts that are too challenging for him, so I try to keep things light & quick - lol - but then the oldest 3 grumble because they want a more "grown-up" game! We've been playing for about a year or so now, and the oldest 3 are really into it. The youngest one comes & goes. I'd suggest keepings things simple and FUN with the 8 year old. No complex plots. Since you know what kinds of things he's into, then you would know what kinds of stories will hold his interest. Good luck, Abub! Let me know how it goes! |
