When I first became licensed in late April of 2013, my oldest child immediately wanted to follow my footsteps. I was all for it. My wife was fine with it too, but wanted my daughter to wait until she was 9 years old.
From that moment, until she was 9, she needed little encouragement to learn. WIth just a few exceptions, whenever I participated in a net, had a lengthy QSO, or strung coax cable through my walls, my daughter was right next to me, asking questions, and observing. She learned the phonetic alphabet in 15 minutes, knew the major FCC rules by observing me over a few days, and quickly learned the theory of repeaters, power, and safety.
Once she turned 9, I held regular study sessions with her for a month. After 10 practice exams, she felt confident enough to take an actual exam. Bing, bang, boom, she passed with flying colors.
This lit a fire in my oldest son, but my wife once again wants to wait until he is also 9. In the meantime, he is very inquisitive and has observed his older sister and how she handles herself on the radio waves.
In a school filled with kids with smartphones and basic cel phones, my daughter is the only licensed amateur radio operator among them. She frequently calls me during the school day and the other kids in the school frequently ask my daughter questions. The first time they saw her HT, they called it a walkie talkie. My daughter was quick to correct them, and gave a quick commercial promoting ham radio. Ever since, parents of her classmates continue to ask me about the hobby.
A handful of people in my church have expressed interest in the art of amateur radio, mostly for its emergency prep facets. One of my nephews has become licensed, and his twin brother has shown interest now too.
I have learned that ham radio has so much to offer people. Some love the home brew projects, some are interested in contests, some like giving service to the community, and others like the idea of having a way to communicate in an emergency. Some just like it to meet people and talk to people.
Either way, ham radio is a blast!
73!
W7KBX
