Junior FOTM Competition.

Having met a remarkable young man at EME ( Folkestone) this year I have been mulling over the feasibility of if / should Planet Figures have its own Junior Section.

This has proved to be a minefield in respect to child safeguarding,and in brief has proved to be a NO GO.

However I can see no reason why we cannot have a FOTM competition on PF.
This would be aimed at Juniors up to their 16th Birthday.
I would assume that any person wishing to enter this competition either belongs to a modeling club or a parent or guardian. Is involved in the hobby. To avoid a number of pitfalls in safeguarding ALL entries should be entered via an adults membership. Either parent / Guardian or fellow club member.

To start with may be 3 or 4 times a year as a stand alone or replacing the adult competition 3 or 4 times a year.

In principle what are your thoughts. Remember it is the youngsters that will keep this hobby going.

Mick

APATHY ALIVE & WELL ON PLANET FIGURES.

I never thought the day would come that I felt I would post a thread on P F with a heading like this.
With a total of 146 views. Five members took the trouble to vote ( excluding myself) of which one expanded on his vote with a post.

I would like to thank the five members who took the time to reply. ( mergroot, Old Pete, Blind Pew , oldtrousers & Bablefish.)

With the overwhelming support this thread received I think we will call this a non starter.

Mick.

I think we should give it a go. But having Junior members registering as individuals in my opinion is a BIG NO. it leaves the door open for all sorts of child safe guarding issues.
As already stated IMO entries should be made via a parents account or an adult club members account.

ie. This is my son / daughter . or This is a member of my club ( Club Name) Jim / Jane entry for this month.
Age.
Club member ???
Other info as per FOTM..

I cannot see any reason why one of the regular FOTM comps later in the year be given up to give this a try. If taken up I will donate a Bust for the winner.

If it is successful the JFOTM comp could be jigged accordingly.

Mick

I agree with the above, except for the starting date. September to me sounds not ideal, as it is still the start of the new school year, and will be difficult to lift off particularly among those attending high school or university (if applicable). I think October would be a better start of the actual competition, combined with a promotinal activity from midAugust / early September onwards - particularly using social media. In my opinion doing this will provide a better chance of succesful launching this idea.
Just my 2 cents

After due reflection I don't agree with a junior FOTM. I don't think age or even sex is a consideration here - painters of all ages and either sex
are novices or experienced. So for me it's more a question of generally encouraging the neophytes whoever they may be, and not necessarily
just the young.

Mike

I totally think that is a great idea,If youngsters are taking an interest in our hobby then it has to be a positive.We had a couple of youngsters that visited Steve Kirtleys stand at Euro and they were engrossed in choosing new figures from.the vast array on offer.So many youngsters choose more sediatary pursuits like gaming and a craft and hobby is all win win to keep things vibrant and going when we are all old codgers .If things are done properly then i think its a marvellous idea personally.
I will climb down from me soapbox and hustings.
Pip pip onk onk peeps.
Richard

Id gladly donate a couple of my minibusts to encourage a friendly competition among the young guys and gals.Maybe my whimsical busts jester and panto horse might be a nice starter for them.
Id gladly help along with Mick.
Richard.

Read the original post (and Mick's new one) and hold my hand up as one who didn't respond.
This is in part down to not wanting to make a comment which could be perceived in a negative way (even if it wasn't intended that way) I applaud the idea of supporting and encouraging juniors whenever they appear (as Mick says they are the next generation)

Coming recently from a Free-flight background a great deal of energy was spent trying to encourage youngsters into the hobby (Competitions amongst the ideas tried) Sadly despite a lot of effort very little effect was seen. That is not to say it would not work in this case, but just explaining my personal experiences which led to a lack of response.

Having said that if the admin are happy to try it for a time and see what the response is I'll gladly add my support to the idea.

Paul

I’m open to the idea of promoting our hobby to juniors.

Hi, I agree the 'recruitment' of youngsters to the hobby dragging them from the screen mind-eating monster.
The registration should be done under parental\club supervision.

Making a separate FOTM is questionable. I've attended shows where I've seen youngsters works better than mine.
Than what would be a reasonable way to reward young newbies?
I've trouble in providing a solution. Maybe with more input from the members we can come up with one.


Cheers.

In our experience in running the last few shows, the Junior class is very poorly supported. I have recently worked with some of our primary schools in the area spending six weeks running modelling clubs as an extra-curricular activity and, although well supported and some fantastic efforts by the kids, the feedback from the parents at the Celebration Evening was not very encouraging. The main excuse/reason was the expense of the kits, equipment, etc. If a child has parental support and is encouraged at home, as I did with my two kids, they may have crack at modelling as a hobby for a while, but generally, (and it is a generalisation) other things tend to take over, such as exams, schoolwork, friends, etc, etc. I think the issue that we have to take into consideration is that modelling, painting, etc is ostensibly an age related hobby. Im certainly not saying that there arent younger modellers out there, but the vast majority of us are of a "certain age" when building kits, etc was a right of passage which we all did as kids. Just look at the typical average age of club members at the next show..

Society's leisure activities have changed beyond recognition in the last 20 years and modelling, in its many forms, is not high on the list of may young people, unless they have a family member who is involved in the hobby, as it is considered "boring" by most. (I have the conversation regularly with my students!) I think trying to "convert" kids into thinking this is a worthwjile pursuit, would be an uphill struggle. There is a noted lack of dexterity amongst many of our new students, many of whom, struggle to hold scissors correctly (seriously!) and have very little patience for such painstaking work. The end result is just not "instant" enough for the vast majority of our students.

I really do not want to sound negative about the idea, at all. In fact, I fully support the idea of a Young FOM section, as a concept, but, playing Devil's Advocate, Im just not sure that all the hard work involved in setting it up will reap any reward....

I just saw this so too late to vote. I say give it a shot.

Joe

I think it is great idea and voted for the addition. We need to encourage young people in the the hobby, especially the historical side.

Scott

Anything which encourages youngsters to get involved in the hobby can only be a good thing in my view ...it does come across as a bit for only us crusty old sticks