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Numbet"2 on your FHdback eanl
STAFF
PUBL/StlEAlEDlTOR
WayMGreenwmSOll
NEVERSAYDIE
Oh Darn, My Kid's Gone Bad
If you read much, you've been reading
about the sorry stale 01 American
ecucauco. There's less being written
about why our educational system isn't
working. bul since it's going to be diHicull
10 fix it if we don', know why it's
broken. perhaps we need 10 not just be
aware 01 the problem, but to also lind
out what went wrong .
We know thaI amateur radiO is eecken,
100. We also know when it broke
and why. but ""'eOOn" krlO'o¥ how 10 file it
because_'ind ourselves running inlo
somealtha same problems as ""8 00in
education,
Amateur radio went along pretty well
from 1946 until 1963. growing 81 11%
per ~ar lor this 17-year period. Then.
suddenly, il died. We're nOI talking
about a gradual drop, we're talking a
cataclysm-a drop in ham sales 0185%
in one yearl A drop Irom an 11 %
growth to ill 5% loss in one year! We're
talking a loss 0185% of our ham dealers
and mosl 01 our manufacturers
within a lew months!
While the " Incenlive Licensing" proposal
by the ARRL nuked the hobby ,
there were several other tecrore which
tended to exacerbate Ihe situation.
They couldn't have picked a worse
lime in history to fll,lll what the ARRL
directors considered was primarily a
fll,lbliCity stunt to locus attention on the
LeaglJe.
Here__e. in the depths ol a sun
spot low, so the bands _e in terrible
shape. Hamming was at itSworst as lar
aSL OF THE MONTH
as operator Iruslrations were ccnceened.
This, in itsell, would tend to
exaggerate any negatives, Ten was
dead as a doornail. Twenty was closed
at nighl, and stinky even during the
besl 01 days. Eighty was awful, with the
rormar ccer area contacts sometimes
almosl impossible. ltjust wouldn'llake
much to get a lot 01 hams to chuck it all
in and selllheirrigs at a frustrating time
like this.
In addition 10 that, _
had the FCC
slarting to charge us lor certcenses. It
wasn 't much, nowllere near what we
were costing them, but many hams
were able 10 blow this all oul 01 propertion.
Evenlually the FCC got stopped
by the courts and had to give back
much 01 the money . But in the meantime,
it was one more large straw on
our backs. One more lruslralian.
There's more. These were the '60s,
complete with rebelling youngstersthe
combined products 01 several major
changes in our whole basic: culture.
There was the incredible innuef"1C8 01
Dr. SpodI, with his " let your kid do his
own thing" approach tochilcl non-train,
ing. There also was the impaC1 01 the
two-worker lamily, where the mother
was no longer at home to bring up Ihe
children,
There's more. Added to Or. Spack
and the working mother , we also had
me pernicious influence of TV-ool
just on the kids, but also on the wtloIe
lam ily. This was the IIrst generation 01
kids whiCh grew up with the TV set on
all day every oay at home. TV was the
CQRPU CHRISTI
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Wayne Green W2NSOll
baby Siller. and then Ihe chewing gum
01 the mind. It kept the kids from doing
their nomeworx. No problem, gel the
schools 10 slop bothering us wit h
homework .
So into Ihis powoor keg the League
dropped the Inc ent ive Licensing
bomb. It turned whal was already a
precarious situation into a disaster
Irom which we have never recovered.
Within a couple 01 years we lost not
only our ham dealers and manutaC1ur.
ers, but we also lost a large percentage
01 our old-time ham clubs, and almost
allot our school radio clubs .
The school clubs were the worst loss
01 all because that wiped out the in.
rraslruclure which had been bringing
us 80% 01 our new hams. By 1970.
when the sun spots were peaking
again. we were able 10 get back to a
small growth. The enormous interest in
FM and repeal8fS, plus a supply 01
ITusttated CBers, also contributed to
this slighl growth.
So what's happened 10 amateur la·
dio, other than the lnoentive Licensing
catastrophe, has been symptomatic 01
Ihe problems America has had with its
kids and with education.
Let' s look at this another way to undersland
it better. I! you buy a dog and
bring it into your home to live with you ,
unless you take some time 10 train Ihat
dog, you're going 10 have a pest who is
chewing your slippers, barking at
night, jumping on people, begg ing lor
lood at the table and soon.
Dogs eagerly take to train ing, II
doesn't even lake very long, if you
bother to learn how to do it. They ara
happier and more comlortable when
they are trained. They need to under,
stand what' s expected 01 them and to
know that they're loved. Dogs will do
almosl anything lor Iova. Bul il you use
punishment to try and train Ihem ,
you'le 001 going 10 have a happy dog ,
nor a trained one.
Isn', it odd how parallel the training
01 kids is to training dogs? You get out
oIa dog what you put in. II you fll,lt in
sometime and love you'n gel a hawy,
wetl-behaved dog who will give love
right back. II you put love inlo a kid
you'll get the same , Is that a news
Ilash?
So how do mosl people train their
kids? With gripes aboul their failures
(punishment), with nagging, and with
wilhholding love. Isn'l il absolulely
amazing how badly this has worked
out?
Well, providing you , unlike your kids,
e«rtlt'tuI!td en p. 90
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