Young People' Section

[Tpfairfax]

Could (should) we have a Junior Members section which would cover piping issues relevant to young people.

At present, there is a perception (anecdotal evidence from a small number of children to whom I have spoken that many of the wider issues, though relevant to the community as a whole, seem less relevant to those who are involved.

We are working hard to make the NPS relevant to junior members, a dedicated section of the BB would show commitment - and also elicit rather than deter engagement on relevant issues.

[pipemakermike]

Hi Tom
I am not keen to add any new sections having put a lot of effort into de-fragmenting and simplifying the forum. I doubt that a Junior section would add anything. I would hope that any questions from any age would be posted in the appropriate existing areas where the whole knowledge of the pipers (or at least the few who actually post) would be available to all.
As is well known I have put in a serious amount of my own time to support the playing of young people and I just can't see that a new forum would be used.

[Francis Wood]

Hello Tom,

My response to the 'should' part of your proposal is 'no'.

Unfortunately, there is a perception that many of the wider issues discussed here are irrelevant to the piping interests of the middle-aged and old as well as the young. It is an unfortunate and erroneous perception, but one which seems difficult to shift. Evidence for this is the very low level and infrequency of participation. Often the Forum seems like an occasional interesting and expert conversation between the very few of us. An additional section within this forum is unlikely to do any good.

I agree fully with Mike's remarks and am grateful for the work he has put into further organising and optimising this forum, just as I am to Barry who set the whole thing up in the first place.

I regard the forum as a most useful resource, in that it encourages the exchange of expert opinion as well as being very welcoming and useful to anyone posing enquiries from a beginner's perspective. There is much interesting exchange in parallel on the Facebook group set up by a private NPS member, but anything of worth there is, of its nature, ephemeral and disappears within a day or so. Here, it lives on as a useful resource.

I think the best improvement of this Forum would be brought about by its increased use and wider participation throughout the age range. I believe it would be worth the Committee's time to have some discussion about how this might be encouraged.

Francis

[Tpfairfax]

Francis, Mike

Thanks for this - and apols for the delay in response - your points are well made - In addition, you bring out a number of wider important issues that are worthy of discussion (Though as you rightly point out - the value might be limited by the number of people who frequent this valuable resource!).

Re the young people section - you may be right - and given the fact that a small proportion of the community use this BBS and that a smaller proportion still are under the age of 21.... the target audience, at this stage, will be very limited. My suggestion was also a marker to see if anyone of fresher years would respond - - and whilst we three all clearly feel like adolescent gazelles - I suspect we might not exactly count

There are a number of initiatives running to try to engage the younger tribe - and If a need for a discrete area appears - we can look at it then.
I will leave this thread out here as a hook so that should anyone want to pick this up - we can open the debate again.

On the other issues: principally, the use of the BBS - I agree, its a useful resource, though interesting that those actively using it all seem to have a specific interest/need.
It does strike me, however, that this is a different discussion and I will start another thread accordingly. In the mean time - thanks for your thoughts on this - very useful.

T