ARLA/CLUSTER: Radioamadores tradicionais deixam os jovens desinteressados, segundo o Presidente da ARRL Rick Roderick (K5UR)

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Traditional ham radio leaves youngsters uninterested

ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, expressed his surprise when he
discovered his usual amateur radio talk didn't impress young people

In the 2016 ARRL Annual Report Rick writes:
"I prepared my usual talk about some interesting ham radio stories
over my 50 years as a ham, how we can talk all over the world, and I
brought some QSL cards from rare places to show the group. I have
given that talk many times, and it usually impresses people — but not
this time. I was surprised to see flat, uninterested faces."

"I realized that I had to change my approach to the presentation if I
was going to keep the attention of these young people. After all, what
could ham radio offer people who grew up in homes that had computers
hooked up to the internet? Today’s young people are used to riding
down the interstate at 70 MPH as a passenger while watching
high-definition videos on their iPhones."

"What we’re hearing from what I call the “new-generation ham,” is that
they don’t view ham radio as being about talking around the world,
contesting, or traditional aspects of our hobby."

"Change generally doesn’t come easy to us. But when I looked out at
that group of young faces and saw their disinterest in traditional ham
pursuits, I realized that I had to change. We have to change. It won’t
come easy, but it’s essential that we get to work on it now."

Download the 2016 ARRL Annual Report from
http://www.arrl.org/annual-reports

When radio amateurs speak about the hobby to potential newcomers they
frequently talk about things that took place in the last century.
For many young people even events that happened in 2010 will still be
half-a-lifetime ago!