Another Case of Revenge Of The Nerds?

[Judge]

Houston dad mocks son’s Lego Robotics Tournament, sets off Twitter

Ugh. Another poor kid who has a real loser for a father.

Houston dad mocks son’s robotics tournament, sets off Twitter

 

[Theta.G]

How strange is that.
That main stream news publishes a story about a tweet/comment a father made about his sons interest.

Spoiler

Oh he's borderline celebrity in one city. Makes sense now.
Yes give Lego more publicity

 

[AGXStarseed]

Some parents appear to just want their kids to do what's expected of boys and get on their high horse if their child ends up being interested in something else.

It reminds me of the scene in Billy Elliott where Billy's Dad finds out about Billy giving up boxing and taking up ballet - claiming that it's for girls, not boys, and that boys should do football or boxing or wrestling.
I can't post the clip as there's some bad language in it (notably Billy calling his Dad the 'B' word) but if you haven't seen the film I'd recommend it.

 

[Judge]

Instead of developing his son's mind through such pursuits, the father wants him to risk concussion and brain injury playing football. Brilliant.

 

[Tom]

Dinosaurs complaining about the mammals.

 

[Autistamatic]

What a rotten father!

I've seen a few videos about the FLL (the First Lego League) and it looks like great fun for bright kids. I would have been over the moon if something like that had been around when I was a nipper.
There's been some amazing mechanical and technical achievements made with Lego.

 

[Judge]

I've seen a few videos about the FLL (the First Lego League) and it looks like great fun for bright kids. I would have been over the moon if something like that had been around when I was a nipper.
There's been some amazing mechanical and technical achievements made with Lego.

Yeah. In my day we had Erector Sets and Tinker Toys. Nowhere near as elegant as Legos.

 

[Autistamatic]

Yeah. In my day we had Erector Sets and Tinker Toys. Nowhere near as elegant as Legos.

I never quite understood what an "erector set" was until the internet came along. I'd read of them in novels and heard mention on TV, but had no clear idea of what they were. I had no Idea they are what we knew as the branded Meccano (which I always wanted but was too expensive for my folks).
I did have 1970s Lego though, which was fun but nowhere near as versatile as it is now. I can fully see why there are so many adult Lego fans

 

[Judge]

I did have 1970s Lego though, which was fun but nowhere near as versatile as it is now. I can fully see why there are so many adult Lego fans

I don't think it's a stretch to observe that Lego has carved out a market for adults with certain products.

 

[WildCat]

Real piece of work this guy, but compared to what's going on in the rest of the country right now I think this will fizzle out fairly quickly.

He make the mistake of firing off his thoughts on Twitter (sounding familiar yet?), so he'll get lambasted, probably threatened since he's in the limelight (he's also a local radio host), and everyone will move on to the next target. He could of course twist it even more for damage control, but no promises.

Maybe I don't have a sense of humor...he could very well be yanking everyone's chains, but I got other things to worry about.

 

[Peter Morrison]

Clearly this father doesn't understand the educational value of being part of an engineering competition - the dedication, imagination, construction, and execution that results in a unique creation. Let's not ignore the self-esteem that comes with making it to the competition in the first place. Without engineering, the dad would have no microphone or Twitter account. If the place was full of bored fathers, who did all the cheering? It was probably all the other competitors, friends, and families who understand and respect the purpose of the competition requiring advanced design skills. I like it when everyone applauds a winner. It's good sportsmanship.

 

[tducey]

To me a child's interest should always be welcomed and celebrated, they certainly should not be shunned.