> Amateur Radio is a lot like STEM. One of it's goals is to encourage people to get "into" thinking and planning for the situations where amateur radio is a useful public service.
A few years ago I tried to convince my kids that it would be fun for all of us to get our license for amateur radio. They asked what we could do with it and I told them we could talk to people anywhere in the world! They looked at me like I was nuts because they do that all day everyday online.
I'd say "We can receive images from and talk with astronauts on the International Space Station... No big deal, right?" They do this regularly and actually give out certificates for successfully receiving the SSTV images they broadcast, which is super cool IMO. [0]
Regarding cell phones, just yesterday there was a countrywide cellular service outage[1] in Canada, where amateur radio would have continued working flawlessly. Further, if you are doing some backcountry camping or offroading, good luck getting on the cellular network.
>They asked what we could do with it and I told them we could talk to people anywhere in the world! They looked at me like I was nuts because they do that all day everyday online
It’s more like why you would want to learn to do any of a bunch of other things that technology or other people can do for you.
Why would you want to learn to cook, go camping, learn to fly a plane, or drive a car?
Its a lot like camping: understanding the basics of life and survival, and how our ancestors did it.
The pitch that sold me (well, would have sold me if I had the sway to buy a radio when I was a kid..) was the fact that astronauts on the ISS answered on their frequency circa 2007 more often than they do on the internet.
maybe you should tell them to try and find an internet connection in the wild, on top of a mountain, etc. Whereas ham is infrastructure-less provided you can generate electricity (or have batteries).
What about learning about radio for the purposes other than talking to people? Are they interested in tinkering with electronics? maybe get an SDR like a hackrf and show they how you can use it to capture radio signals (try unlocking your car with a replay attack).
Lots of reasons besides talking to people to get your license. I am Extra Class and I never attempt to talk to people, i don't want to chat with random people unless its an emergency.
Yeah. My son isn't quite old enough yet, but I'm hoping to convince him that an HT will be a better investment than a mobile phone (since he could get one way earlier, anyway.)
A few years ago I tried to convince my kids that it would be fun for all of us to get our license for amateur radio. They asked what we could do with it and I told them we could talk to people anywhere in the world! They looked at me like I was nuts because they do that all day everyday online.