Where are the young Carvers ?

[Lightningbolt]

Times sure have changed dramatically over the years since I was a kid, from predominately two-parent families then, to one-parent families or step parents today. I recall my dad telling me how it was common for rural kids to carry a shotgun to school, park it in the principals office so that he could hunt squirrels on the way home. Even when I was in elementary school in the early '60's all of us carried a pocket knife to school and it wasn't looked at any differently than our pencils. Working a 30 year career with at-risk kids I saw my clients go from mischievous and troubled farm boys to a very strong gang activity kid of today.

Times have certainly changed but I'm happy to report that a kids interest in woodcarving is still just about the same even though the means to meet that need have become somewhat more complicated for those of us who want to share the hobby. In my case, thank God for scouts. All we can do is continue looking for every opportunity possible to share our skill and that should be enough to ensure another generation of carvers, even if the kid drops it for 50 years for all those 'other' distractions in life, then becomes one of us majority 'senior' carvers way down that road in his or her life. I have much faith that the future state of carving will remain strong!

[Beaujangles]

I know a lot of you guys it may have been a while since you had young uns, so I'll tell you a real short story. My little sister has 3 boys, ages 2,4, and 6. They live on a dirt road, a little out in the woods. She gets the boys ready and then the boys go outside and play while she's getting herself ready, washing breakfast dishes, etc.. Well, boys being boys, they dig and play and get dirty. It took 3 days of school this year for the administration to call child protective services and report neglect. The police came out to the house with a social worker to inspect the place, interrogate the kids, all that. And that just for boys being boys, they get baths daily and put on clean clothes in the morning, just the admin doing what they are required to do.
Do a search on what happens if you show up in the E.R. with an injured child when no one else witnessed them get hurt, it's unpleasant, and required by law for the hospital to have the cops come in and question you.
End of rant.. Sorry.
By the way, my oldest is 6, and I wanted to let him carve. My wife convinced me otherwise, for a few more years anyways.

[kjarvis]

The Internet and video games have replaced the manipulative activities and pastimes of the former generation. Not much different than the loss of other artisan and craftsmen skills. Carving, knitting, sculpturing, quilting, etc. are becoming lost skills as youth do not have the patience to gain the skill and as others have stated they want instant gratification. Creativity has moved from reforming natual materials into an artistic form to manipulation of digital formats (animation / programming) whoever heard of a carving or quilt being attacked by a virus?

[Sharon of the Dell]

Right now, my two youngest grand kids,"La"-girl, 11 and "Ford"-boy, 9, I changed their names, are a sleep on the love seat and couch in my house.
"La" just got through sewing a quilt and has others in the making with her other Grandma. She loves it so far, quilting.
"Ford", was out earlier with his grandpa, my husband, whittling on stick (no supervision because he was taught safety early on) and helped him dig a little on a ditch.
Both of them made a fort a while back in our woods and keep improving on it.
There's watercolor pictures drying on the coffee table they did before supper.
There's coffee cans outside with some sort of mud stew (grin) they mixed up from the puddles.
Small hands have picked up grandma's carvings and talked grandmas ear off about carving!
There's spears with carved points on the porch they made out of branches.
I've been giving the little darlings art lessons since they stopped chewing on everything!
Earlier I took a cup of coffee out to gramps, left my super sharp gouges on the counter and i know they didn't touch them because i told them not to and why.
I trust these kids!
Even though their folks have parted ways, they seem to be pretty well adjusted.
I think a big part of that is because us four grandparents have done so much with these kids and so have their folks.
We all helped raise them- you know- the, it takes a village thing!
They have all their modern gadget stuff, and sometimes this video junkie grandma plays her Nintendo game cube (boy are we behind the times) with them.
It's after 11 pm here and I'm kind of loosing my train of thought, so I'll wrap it up by saying-
Spend time with your kids and grandkids, get involved in scouts or 4-H or something.
The kids now a days are a by-product of us!
Be a part of their lives! Get involved in their lives! Be there for them and let them know you need them!
Don't give up on kids!

[Lightningbolt]

Wow Sharron, that was just great! Sounds like you certainly have your priorities set right, putting the kids first when they needed you the most. Gosh, I wish that I could have been a kid in your house! LOL None of us are perfect but it sure looks like you're doing everything right and providing the opportunities that every kid needs and no doubt they will adjust to the adversities in their past (and future) lives because of your choosing to put them first no matter what. Thanks for stepping up to the plate and being stand-up grandparents when they needed you the most.

For those who feel like your child is too young or not mature enough to handle a carving knife safely, then I would suggest getting them started with soap carving using Popsicle sticks or plastic ware for knives. Carving a bar of Ivory soap seems quite insignificant to us as adults, but to a child it can be HUGE if you first do your homework and present it to them with enthusiasm and fun. Here's a little video that I put together on the basics of soap carving from a class I led and that you might find helpful...... SOAP CARVING CLASS

Thanks to everyone for not giving up on the next generation!

[Tom-H]

The smile on the next door girls face and the results of her efforts, means that there is hope..

Tom H

[Richard Underwood]

Young people today dont want to take time for anything but what there peirs are into,"its not cool to be different". I am a member of a local muzzleloader club, and do the primative pre 1840 rendezvous` and have given demo's and talks at schools for the kids ,trying to get more interest in there history and the way things were made and why. They are interested at the minuit but thats it. Our club and the WVa muzzleloader assn and the National muzzleloader assn are dying because we cant get enough interest from the young to keep it going. There is just no interest shown from the next generation. We sponser load and shoot days at our range for anyone under 18 and a few will show up with there parents and seem to enjoy themselves but we never see them again. They say things run in cycles so maybe we can hope it will come around again.
Richard

[Big Barn]

Thanks for everybody's thoughts and input on this subject. I can see & agree that our society is moving much faster than when a lot of us were kids - it's just a changing world. Hopefully, this craft / hobby will always be around - heck, there will always be someone with the urge to make wood shavings. Thanks again everybody...

[spinner]

I'm just now getting back into carving & have noticed the same trend. 30 years ago the Wichita, Tulsa, & Oklahoma City shows all had 30 to 40 carvers with booths. Most were competing & trying to sell. Now, some shows don't even have 20 carvers show. Is this the same trend we're seeing in other organizations?