Kids and Dropzones

[freefallfreak 0]

Ok, ya'll...this is a killer...Sunday a friend of mine and myself spent the day at a drop zone with his quiet, mild-mannered, ten-year old grandson, around a bunch of "crazy skydivers". We went back home and were watching the boob-tube and sports with the same kid. Monday afternoon the prncipal of this little angel's school called my friend and told him to come to the school (he has custody of the the child). It seems that our humor has rubbed off on this kid. Little Scotty was playing in the school yard at recess, showing the other kids how to "shot put" and accidently threw a brick through the bathroom window. It hit a toilet and smashed the porcelin god into a bunch of small pieces. The other kids weren't supposed to tell who did it,but as kids will, somebody told. The principal led Scotty to the bathroom and asked "What looks like happened here?" Scotty replied "I ain't sure, but it looks like somebody shit a brick". Now I'm not saying kids don't belong on a drop zone. I'm just wondering if maybe we should tone it down a bit around kids, of if maybe my own sense of humor has gotten to this kid...any replies??
FFF

[skreamer 1]

Quote

"I ain't sure, but it looks like somebody shit a brick".

rotflmfaopimp
I'm sorry FFF, but that is just too freakin funny, man. This is just creasing me up - "it looks like somebody shit a brick!" - waaaaahaaaaaaaahahahahahaha

OK, I know the kid is only 10 years old, but would you please buy him a Coke on my behalf? That boy has balls! (or he will have when they drop!)
Man, there is a story I will be repeating tomorrow at work!
/s
PS and my guess is that if you have influenced him this much now already, in 6 years time young Scotty will be taking to the skies!

[ditch9276 0]

Hey that´s great little scotty will be a good skydiver in the future!!!!! If you´ll ask any skydiver if he/her had problems in his/her time at school, then normally the answer will be >YES<; cause we´re not like other people (whuffos).
no one of them could understand why somebody will leave an perfectly airplane. the door was open...... go jump!!!!!
little scotty had learned about the right sense of humor!!!!
DITCH
>volo ergo sum<

[wingnut 0]

damn,fff,
that's funny as hell....... now i don't think it's so bad what he said...... but we probly should tone it down a little around kids at the dz, probly most people do....to a point....there is still some stuff that a minor shouldn't be around at a dz after dark though......unless it's my current dz..nothing ever intereesting happens.....

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[freaksister 0]

Ya, Wingie I think you must have the most boring DZ!! That has to suck.
Sis
"What we're all really seeking is something where we can feel the rapture of being alive."J.Campbell

[Pammi 0]

Well, I guess I'll put this here! This thread was started twice somehow :)
Sounds like he was being a kid. He did something perhaps he shouldn't have and it should be handled appropriately, as with any such situation. I take my kids to the DZ sometimes and other then people toning down their language a bit if they happen to be standing there, nothing much changes and neither have they. Same with a good friend of mine who also takes her two kids to the DZ from time-to-time. I'm trying to teach my kids that regardless of what they see, they are not adults and can not do/say everything they see/hear, at the DZ or elsewhere, or even what they see other kids doing. Their choices will have consequences and rewards, whatever is appropriate. The fact that Joey or his dad Joe said or did it first means nothing to me and they know this. I hope they will grow up to make the right decisions regardless of influences, and the DZ is definately not on the top ten list of ones I'm worried about. I try to set as good of an example as I can for them, be honest whenever they have questions, set firm bounderies and hope for the best!
Just my view :)
Pammi
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
http://trak.to/skydivechick
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
http://trak.to/skydivechick

[skySue 0]

I love that kid, send him to my school when he's old enough. I took my 2 youngest on the weekend with heaps of stuff to keep them occupied but they preferred to watch and listen to the jumpers. Since our DZ is pretty small, very family-like, and it wasn't too busy, my girls (8 and 11)were treated like everyone's niece. They had an absolute ball. Both have been there once before and now they think they are part of the skydiving family. Before they ever came to the DZ I did of course make sure they knew what was expected of them, where they could and couldn't go, what not to touch, when they had to stand back and let the instructors do their thing with the students, etc. I won't take the girls again too soon because the novelty will wear off for them and the other jumpers, but we did have a great weekend and I appreciate the guys at the DZ even more now I've seen another side of them.
Go for it ALL,
Sue
PS My youngest has decided she has seen enough of the training (arches beautifully) and will do the AFF course when she is 16 - not interested in a tandem, wants the real thing!

[SpeedRacer 1]

I doubt if you can totally blame the DZ for this boy's behavior or language, by the time you're ten you've usually heard it all. Not that I think it's OK, but ...
It sounds like one of those situations where a parent knows the child should be disciplined, but has to work hard to keep from laughing at the situation!
"Looks like someone shit a brick" BWahahahahahha!
Speed Racer
Brew Skies

[Keys 0]

Too Funny!
Kids grow up so fast anyway. I was out to dinner with my step daughter (age 6) and a friend (age 7) of hers. Blah Blah Blah the friend pissed her off, saw how upset she was then turned and said, "aw shit!".
I was really shocked to hear it from a 7 year old but lets face it, at school all day they probably swear out on the playground. The best we can hope for is to teach our kids to refrain from it when they should. And yes, my daughter is a DZ kid and she knows all the lingo.

[mattb 0]

I don't see what the kid did wrong? Unless the shot put when through the window on purpose. Quite observant if you ask me. Then again my lack of conformity might have been what led me to a "non-traditional educational path".
-mob

[Pammi 0]

Quote

It sounds like one of those situations where a parent knows the child should be disciplined, but has to work hard to keep from laughing at the situation!

LOL! Exactly! Been there ;)
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
http://trak.to/skydivechick

[freefallfreak 0]

Speedy,

Quote

but has to work hard to keep from laughing at the situation

Laughing?? Geez, I went with my friend to the school when he was told about what had taken place. You should have seen me!! I was sitting in a chair when the principal told us and I wound up on the floor, kicking and screaming, laughing my butt off....needless to say, it was NOT appreciated by the principal...I just can't understand why he got upset...I mean, that would have been the normal response from just about every skydiver I know...and while the principal was turning red , Brian (Scotty's grandfather) was trying to get me off the floor without winding up there, laughing himself...I guess it was a good thing Scotty wasn't in the room...Anyways, thanks for the input...it seems my sense if humor isn't totally to blame here...Later...
FFF

[Emma 0]

That is the funniest thing I ever heard!
What a cool kid! I'm surprised the teacher didn't laugh...I mean, that was pretty quick-witted, especially for a 10-year old!
He may have picked up the word 'shit' at the DZ but I think the humour was all his own. Bless!
When I have kids (eeurrgh...hopefully a long way away!!) I have no hesitation in letting them hang around the DZ all week if they like. At our DZ there's so many people who just automatically 'look after' random, stray skydive kids without even thinking about it. Surely it has to be a better environment, outside, running around, mixing with a (colourful) variety of skydivers than sitting at home turning into a lump of lard in front of the TV?
Emma

[cdunham 0]

Quote

[better] than sitting at home turning into a lump of lard in front of the TV?

Hey, I spent the better part of my childhood in a TV trance, and I turned out, well... oh, I see your point.

[PLFKING 4]

Hi guys --
Send the stray and excess dropzone kids to N.C. ! All the old-timers here on the forums know that I can put them to good use !
(I can't guarantee that they will return in the same condition, however........)
The PLF Phlailer

[skybytch 273]

Quote

It sounds like one of those situations where a parent knows the child should be disciplined, but has to work hard to keep from laughing at the situation!

Been there! My wonderful son has done this to me a couple of times... first he put his artistic skills to use, decorating a picture of a girl with several rather xrated doodles (this girl has been chasing/harrassing him for 3 years now and he was sick of it...). Wouldn't have been a problem if he had just not handed it to a "friend" who promptly gave it to the girl in question, who promptly went to the principal. He got suspended for a week for "sexual harrassment"; it was all I could do not to laugh my ass off when the principal was telling me about it.
Then earlier this year he and a friend were at a school function (FFA - Future Farmers of America - awards bbq). At the end of the bbq there were some baked potatoes left over; both kids grabbed a few to "take home." Then instead of coming home, they hid out in some bushes by the only road in/out and waited for another friend to drive by. When he did, they popped up out of the bushes and ambushed the car with the baked potatoes. No one was hurt, car wasn't damaged, but the "friend" turned around and went to tell the Ag teacher... who called the cops... then called me and left a message saying there would be a meeting with the principal, blah, blah, blah... Poor kid finally got home (after being stopped by the cops - who were laughing their asses off about the whole thing, btw) and had to tell me the whole story. I didn't punish him in any way, shape or form; I mean c'mon... it's not like they were throwing rocks, knives or bullets like some other kids his age do, they threw cooked, cooled baked potatoes! Needless to say the threatened "meeting with the principal" never happened; good thing too cuz I would have gone OFF on them!
Of course all this is really my fault for taking him to the drop zone every weekend during his formative pre-teenage years...
pull and flare,
lisa

[wingnut 0]

yup dz life can shape kids lives.....i'm proof!!! i was first brought to a dz by my sister (she had the car) at the very young age 17 and then i was schooled on the right way to act in public and things that are funny.... but please be nice if you ever meet me at a dz...i'm still a little kid and when i grow up (hopefully never) i don't want to end up havving my mommy yell at me for my antics out around the town........having said that.....i need to go jump.....
<>

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[cdunham 0]

Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a musician!
Sorry, son, but I'm afraid you can't do both.
---

[SpeedRacer 1]

Speaking of growing up, I can't understand this concept that some people are "Trying to get in touch with their Inner Child"
This is a problem for some people?!! Maybe for whuffos!! My big problem is maintaining this bullshit "Outer Adult" facade!!
Speed Racer
Brew Skies

[freefallfreak 0]

Speedracer,

Quote

My big problem is maintaining this bullshit "Outer Adult" facade!!

Thank you...my sentiments, exactly...
FFF

[Katzeye 0]

the DZ is my "adult" playground. Leave the kids at home or suffer the consequences!!!
Katzeye

[Keys 0]

Please define "adult" playground, because my imagination is running wild.

[Pammi 0]

Quote

the DZ is my "adult" playground. Leave the kids at home or suffer the consequences!!!

Hmm..so you're gonna stop diving if you ever have kids? How sad for you! I plan on showing my kids how to live life to its fullest and that women CAN have everything they desire! A family, a career and a life that's theirs, and not just an extension of being the mommy or wife. And who better to have them around the my best friends at the DZ? A better influence by far then some friends they might have in the future. Better they learn there are boundaries and how to behave while in public then grow up naive and bratty cuz they've been hidden away from places they have to be a bit more restrained in. Heaven help anyone around those children when they finally do break loose!
I realize it's an 'adult candy store' as our DZO calls it, and I wouldn't bore my children by making them stay out there too often or too long at a time because they already consider people flying down under canopy quite normal and boring now after a while. I also take them elsewhere when the partying starts so everyone can feel free to act as crazy as they like...the same as I wouldn't take them into a bar late at night. However, the only 'consequences' I see my kids facing from being out at the dropzone now and again is an open mind and adventerous heart. Gee, maybe I should reconsider and send them to live with their father so they can sit on their ass in front of a TV all day!
Pammi
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
http://trak.to/skydivechick

[Merrick 0]

Quote

"the DZ is my "adult" playground. Leave the kids at home or suffer the consequences!!!"

Yeah, I guess by "adult" you mean loud, obnoxious, cussing, nudie jokin, drunken ass holes huh! Sounds like me... WHEN I WAS 16!
I realize that it's my responsibility what I do & don't subject my kids to, and I think the DZ is the least of their problem..... *gasp* that my little girl might hear the 'f' word or something. Kids can be raised to understand that what's OK for some adults isn't OK for children... ours know that, & they don't test the line that has been drawn, no matter who they're around! Everyone here gloats on how completely wonderful skydivers are, so why wouldn't I want my kids to grow up seeing first hand what it's truly like to live your life, not just exist. Yes, I do believe that there's a time to bring the kids to the DZ & a time to leave them at home (i.e. they go home when the beer light comes on), I also realize that no one should have to adjust their behavior just because there are kids around.... if they feel that they have to, then maybe they need to "adjust" their behavior PERIOD!
On the other hand, while we often are under the misconception that the DZ is our little slice of heaven. Our "Home Away from Home," created just so we'd be blessed with a place to frolic at our leisure... the one thing we tend to forget is that all DZs are a business.... for the sole purpose of making money (well, cept for that guy we met last weekend who runs a non-profit DZ in Illinois). There is certain tact to be shown whether there are kids around or not. Like the guy/girl who does his 100th jump nude then lands right up front in the peas in front of a huge class of students along with all their parents & grandparents standing around. Everyone should think before they speak or do anything in that light, because everything you do is a reflection on the DZO & his/her business. It's not for you to dictate who does or doesn't become a return student or jumper just because you don't care if you offend someone or not.
"Grab the grass, it's the bounce that kills!"
Merrick
Edited by Merrick on 5/22/01 09:58 AM.