Un Niche It (1 Viewer)

[paulzhere]

Speaking only of the schools in the united states, there seems to be a decisive move to NOT educate our children of our History. There are exceptions to this statement..but, it seems that the emphasis is to spend time 'neutering' who we are or how we arrived at this point in time. This is not a politically biased statement..its just a fact. My uncle wears a Bastogne T-shirt I bought him, since he fought there..and a Korean Veteran saw my uncle waiting in line and went over and shook his hand in thanks of his service. It brought tears to my uncle's eyes. When I told this true story to my adult son, he asked me: What is a Korean Veteran? Nuff said about history in our schools. Does anyone know if King & Country donates a somewhat well stocked diorama to schools here and in other countries to catch the interest of our younger people...that they might go beyond asking: what is a veteran?...This would be good for King and Country and good for our hobby (at any price.) and good for our nation. Is this being done, now by any of the manufactureres? Do you think these displays would be prohibited in an era of political correctness. In my own head: all wars are unjust..especially if you or yours die in it. However. Most wars ARE totally necessary if we are to defend our way of life and stop attrocities. And, all those who have participated in these wars deserve NOT to be forgotten. Displaying their courage and their sacrifice in miniature...to our children might be just one small way of stimulating our history and an added way of perpetuating our hobby. Does anyone agree? Does anyone know if these kinds of 'donations' are being made to our schools?...paul

 

[damian]

Speaking only of the schools in the united states, there seems to be a decisive move to NOT educate our children of our History. There are exceptions to this statement..but, it seems that the emphasis is to spend time 'neutering' who we are or how we arrived at this point in time. This is not a politically biased statement..its just a fact. My uncle wears a Bastogne T-shirt I bought him, since he fought there..and a Korean Veteran saw my uncle waiting in line and went over and shook his hand in thanks of his service. It brought tears to my uncle's eyes. When I told this true story to my adult son, he asked me: What is a Korean Veteran? Nuff said about history in our schools. Does anyone know if King & Country donates a somewhat well stocked diorama to schools here and in other countries to catch the interest of our younger people...that they might go beyond asking: what is a veteran?...This would be good for King and Country and good for our hobby (at any price.) and good for our nation. Is this being done, now by any of the manufactureres? Do you think these displays would be prohibited in an era of political correctness. In my own head: all wars are unjust..especially if you or yours die in it. However. Most wars ARE totally necessary if we are to defend our way of life and stop attrocities. And, all those who have participated in these wars deserve NOT to be forgotten. Displaying their courage and their sacrifice in miniature...to our children might be just one small way of stimulating our history and an added way of perpetuating our hobby. Does anyone agree? Does anyone know if these kinds of 'donations' are being made to our schools?...paul

If you have perused a few of the more recent threads you would realize that toy soldier companies exist to maximize profit not educate children or any other such concept.

 

[paulzhere]

A way to maximize profits is keep your current customer base..and to lay the groundwork of increasing the future base. Money is not the only ingredient to a purchase in our hobby (or their profit). Money and interest..or money and passion would serve to maximize profits. A glossy brochure (which in itself has become a collectable) primarily serves the same people. Trust me on this as my wife has used such brochures to catch the overflow of watered flower pots (to my dismay). Unless, I missed the point in your reply, marketing is not wasted money; it is money to solidify the faithful and it is meant to be spent converting new recruits. High School aged students on my block, when they hear the word "AXIS", think that it refers to a part on their father's sports car. Couldnt K&C make new money by planting the seeds of metal and also educate at the same time?

.

 

[HAWKEYE]

speaking only of the schools in the united states, there seems to be a decisive move to not educate our children of our history. There are exceptions to this statement..but, it seems that the emphasis is to spend time 'neutering' who we are or how we arrived at this point in time. This is not a politically biased statement..its just a fact. My uncle wears a bastogne t-shirt i bought him, since he fought there..and a korean veteran saw my uncle waiting in line and went over and shook his hand in thanks of his service. It brought tears to my uncle's eyes. When i told this true story to my adult son, he asked me: What is a korean veteran? Nuff said about history in our schools. Does anyone know if king & country donates a somewhat well stocked diorama to schools here and in other countries to catch the interest of our younger people...that they might go beyond asking: What is a veteran?...this would be good for king and country and good for our hobby (at any price.) and good for our nation. Is this being done, now by any of the manufactureres? Do you think these displays would be prohibited in an era of political correctness. In my own head: All wars are unjust..especially if you or yours die in it. However. Most wars are totally necessary if we are to defend our way of life and stop attrocities. And, all those who have participated in these wars deserve not to be forgotten. Displaying their courage and their sacrifice in miniature...to our children might be just one small way of stimulating our history and an added way of perpetuating our hobby. Does anyone agree? Does anyone know if these kinds of 'donations' are being made to our schools?...paul

paul great idea, but common, you live in chicago, ground zero for banning history the pledge of allegiance and the singing of silent night at chrsitmas. Young kids today only learn about wwii from call of duty games. I live a couple hours west of you in iowa and one time when at my fifth graders school my brother asked my daughter where the books on the civilwar or on george custer were in the library. Her qoute was " uncle john shhhh, they don't want us to know about that stuff".

 

[theBaron]

If you have perused a few of the more recent threads you would realize that toy soldier companies exist to maximize profit not educate children or any other such concept.

True, Damian, in the end, that's the reason for any company to exist, though, in choosing their subjects, toy soldier makers can select particular subjects with an eye to instructing people about them, indeed, sometimes they seem to intend to do so.

Hawkeye's point is a good one--if we think that the way history is taught--it is taught--is not how it should be, we need to take active measures to remedy that. And not only by choosing our elected officials more carefully, but also, in our own interaction with children, and with other people generally. Fortunately, our hobby gives us a lot of opportunity to do just that.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Ruggles]

Great ideal. It would help their business as well, I would imagine a few kids and their dads visiting the schools for functions might become new collectors

 

[Guy]

Pitty about the situation in the USA. We here in Belgium learn about the war in school and a school trip to the most famous battle ground of WWI ( Ypres) and WWII ( the Ardennes) is compulsary. We do not forget what your fathers and grandfathers did for us they helped us, and gave their life to enable us get our freedom back. We will never forget, the numerous war relics all over the Ardennes region and the battle-fields of WWI help us to remember daily .The Belgian people are for ever grateful and thankful to the allies.
guy:smile2:

 

[Gideon]

Oh come on guys! Stop this!

Paul, it's not a toy soldier makers job to educate OUR children! It's not! They love this hobby and to say that they are only here to maximize profits is not fair.

As with so many other things in this country which are going so, so, so wrong right now, lets practice what many preach, reach in and do it ourselves.

Many in this country are electing people to office on issues other than the education of our children. If you remove the clutter and pandering these people do then maybe you'll see that a. Education begins at home and b. Children don't vote and are therefore easy prey during budget cuts.

Don't go telling any toy soldier maker that they have an obligation to teach or donate potentially unwanted goods to a failing school system. If you want to help you'll do what my elementary school principal did - invite veterans to speak in class rooms or you'll go to the school and speak with principals directly about it. If a diorama is wanted, maybe you can offer to do it yourselves instead of pass the responsibility on to the people you think you can bully.

Sorry for the rant but these soldier companies are small businesses and this just smacks of disrespect. More hands out asking for stuff. Where does it end??? When I've had my various businesses, I had people "suggesting" that I donate to this even and that cause all with the intimation that if I didn't then I wasn't being a good neighbor. You know what? I did what I could but I refused to have my shelves picked bare.

 

[paulzhere]

Oh come on guys! Stop this!

Paul, it's not a toy soldier makers job to educate OUR children! It's not! They love this hobby and to say that they are only here to maximize profits is not fair.

As with so many other things in this country which are going so, so, so wrong right now, lets practice what many preach, reach in and do it ourselves.

Many in this country are electing people to office on issues other than the education of our children. If you remove the clutter and pandering these people do then maybe you'll see that a. Education begins at home and b. Children don't vote and are therefore easy prey during budget cuts.

Don't go telling any toy soldier maker that they have an obligation to teach or donate potentially unwanted goods to a failing school system. If you want to help you'll do what my elementary school principal did - invite veterans to speak in class rooms or you'll go to the school and speak with principals directly about it. If a diorama is wanted, maybe you can offer to do it yourselves instead of pass the responsibility on to the people you think you can bully.

Sorry for the rant but these soldier companies are small businesses and this just smacks of disrespect. More hands out asking for stuff. Where does it end??? When I've had my various businesses, I had people "suggesting" that I donate to this even and that cause all with the intimation that if I didn't then I wasn't being a good neighbor. You know what? I did what I could but I refused to have my shelves picked bare.

I did not say it was their job to educate..I did not say they have an obligation to donate anything. I just stated the obvious that monies dedicated to marketing could be spent on more than just colorful brochures. All education should begin in the home and be re enforced in the home. But, today, school has our children (for the good or not) much more than we have. King and Country is not IBM or Dupont..but, even the seven year old down my block gives away a free taste of his lemonade, hoping you will come back later when the sun is high and purchase one of his products. I am making NO demands on any mfg...I am just suggesting that setting up displays inside a school might stimulate interest in our history and in our hobby..and that would help any manufacture's sales. A company could LOAN the display on certain patriotic holidays and then take them back. Our school system, though, would probably not allow it because depictions of war (and sacrifice) might encourage violence in this political corrrect environment in which they wont even let children play 'dodge ball'. And, where did you get the idea of me being a critic of a company's right to maximize profits? My point was that they COULD possibly encourage more profits in the future as more and more world war II vets pass away. I forgot the huge number of people living in the U.S. who were born after the first Iraq conflict...so these people dont even know what that was about (regardless of how you feel about that war...soldiers did go and many did not come back whole or did not come back at all. Shouldnt they be remembered, also?) A child doesnt spend enough time with his parents, today. Most children dont read history...they play war games on their computer, though. Although its not a toy mfg's responsibility to donate anything..a display here or there, if accepted, might some day increase sales and encourage future investigation of who we are and how did we get here as a nation. And, to that person who looked up that I live in the Chicago area...you are right about this political environment. Capitalism here started with Who Is John Galt?..and currently is being promulgated by WHY IS JOHN GALT?....So...my post wasnt an indictment against king and country or an edict of future action...it was just a suggestion that even on a small scale might a school display might benefit sales..future hobbyists..and more patriotic citizens. (and, on a sidenote: I will tell my uncles that they and the brave people of Belgium's sacrifices are still being remembered, taught, and honored. I am very glad and very proud of your culture for doing this.)

 

[Gideon]

How many of us on this forum had the historic education you describe? I learned just about all I know outside of school. Unless you are in college majoring in something like this, very, very few have had this education.

My education in school was about the larger conflicts. We didn't learn about Korea and the only reason Vietnam was so important was due to how we reacted to it and the other social issues of the time. I'm not minimizing the lives lost and the heroic acts of our soldiers at all.

It's an open forum to make suggestions of this type but it's also open to criticism of said suggestions.

Personally, I'd love to see a diorama of some sort everywhere I go but I know its not a reality and I would never suggest to a small business owner anything so logistically challenging and expensive.

This hobby has always been one of luxury too. Getting kids involved in it at a young age with the hopes they'll be able to afford it in the future isn't something many manufacturers would want to take up. They need more immediate results.

Additionally, where would these dioramas wind up going if one of the goals is to spur younger people to collect? Certainly not to schools in poorer areas. So, in this area, I would approach your own school system and try to coordinate something with local veterans.

Lastly, the post right before yours was where it was said that these manufacturers just seem interested in maximizing profits. It's not like somebody took a chance in a very challenging type of business and who actually loves it right? Not that at all. Somebody is making some money at something and prices are going up so lets start taking jabs...

 

[kilted vampire]

If you have perused a few of the more recent threads you would realize that toy soldier companies exist to maximize profit not educate children or any other such concept.

That maybe but you ought to see the displays we have at the shop!{sm0}

As I read further down I saw something else as far as the schooling goes. We were taught a fair amount about the AWI and ACW when I was growing up. The rest is kind of sketchy. There were great war movies when I was a kid. I think later on my interests became more pronounced as an adult. Certainly the schools have toned down history to the point of severely lacking. Sorry there is a point I was going to make but poof it is gone.