The Future of US Kids Making Stuff...
 

On 2010-01-19, Frnak McKenney wrote:
Unka George,

Thank you for taking the time to trim. grin!

On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:42:35 -0600, F George McDuffee wrote:

[ ... ]

"Making stuff," like everything else, is largely absorbed by
osmosis by close contact with a parent that "makes stuff." More
yada-yada-yada and blah-blah-blah won't change a thing. A
positive answer to WIIFM might.

Unka George (George McDuffee)

I can see the "osmosis" as being important, but I don't think I'd
limit it to parents (although my father did get me started with
electronics). Other adults can have an effect as well, in my case
one Woodrow Maiden(WA4GMV) who ran the Tuckahoe TV repair shop when
I was growing up and who kindly let me spend much of my after-school
time there.

My parents had *no* skill in making things. When I came up from
years with my grandparents, I started to make something, and found only
two hammers in the house -- both tiny claw hammers, and each with at
least one claw broken off. That first Christmas, I gave him a good
quality 16-Oz claw hammer with a steel handle and rubber cushion grip
(which I still have now, and it is still as good as it was then), just
so there would be a good hammer in the house.

However, growing up in South Texas, I learned from my
step-grandfather and a great aunt who both believed in making things and
were willing to share things with me.

BTW From the earlier discussion of kits -- I forgot to mention that my
first four computers were all built from kits -- which had
instructions vastly inferior to those which Heathkit supplied.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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