Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: how can I get...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    on a coal pile in pa.
    Posts
    368

    how can I get...

    How can I get my 14 year old off his ass and out on the field?

    I hav'nt posted in years. My background is I played my first game of paintball in March of 1984 at Skirmish usa. I was active until about 2008. I bought the 3rd Automag in New Jersey, and owned just about every 'Mag. I even owned a Devilmag(is that guy still around?) My favorite rig was my Emag with warp feed.

    Anyway, I bought a house about 5 miles from Skirmish USA, and I can't get my son(14 years old) off his ass and his computer/xbox/playstation4 bla bla bla...

    I'm worried he has no real friends, and he's too rapped up in these computer games. I want to get him into paintball, but he mostlikely isn't interested. I want him to get out with his peers, I don't know how to do it. He LOVES guns. I have and AK74(a Molot VEPR in 5.45x39) and he likes paintball guns. But how do I get him into it?

    Should I just make reservation and force him to go?

    I myself won't play, as I just had major back surgery. I am also very nearly 50. While I would love to play again, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to gear; I would need a Emag and well, thats where I am. I need'nt go into details.

    Any advice?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Beaumont,Tx.
    Posts
    1,280
    MOTY3
    My son is 14 and he plays video games also. He was/is into air-soft (I hate air-soft) because his Boy scout buddies all have they're birthdays at the air-soft place. He got his very own Automag a few years back (thanks Tuna) and now he loves paintball as well. I think if you get your son his own marker and equipment he may be more inclined to want to play. Something about having your own cool marker to look at and hold every day keeps you thinking about that next time you can go play.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Mt. Pleasant, SC
    Posts
    2,741
    I would just make it a mandatory father's day thing, maybe see if he has a buddy that wants to go with his dad. It takes 1 day of solid play to get hooked for life.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    on a coal pile in pa.
    Posts
    368
    Its tough boys. Mean to say, he has NO friends. Just the idiots online in his shooter games.

    I see trouble ahead.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Jeet yet ?
    Posts
    8,132
    Quote Originally Posted by bound for glory View Post
    Its tough boys. Mean to say, he has NO friends. Just the idiots online in his shooter games.

    I see trouble ahead.
    Be careful what you speak.

    Words are more powerful than you think.

    Stay positive.



  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Live Free or Die
    Posts
    2,330
    If he is into shooter games see if he has interest in milsim mag feed paintball or airsoft (did I just say that?). The goal is to get him out and moving. Is there a uncle or cousin that can take him since you currently cant?
    Quote Originally Posted by dano_____ View Post
    I keep forgetting to not feed my mags after midnight so they seem to multiply regularly.

  7. #7
    My son is 10
    And I love playing with him
    What I did and do is ..
    Got him a mag ( made him work for it ) bad daddy!!! but he Appreciates the gun now
    And every Friday night we get the gear ready. That way Saturday morning he can't say he doesn't want to go

  8. #8
    I feel your pain. Really. My step son played paintball with me, but it was always right back to the computer games. So just paintball may not be enough for what i think your looking for.
    But being so close to Skirimish would/should help to find other kids to play.
    As was said, if he has his own rig he may go online to research stuff and find people online which is just how this generation is.
    "Friends" are different now. You may not think he has any but by his and his peers define it that he does online.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Inception Designs HQ
    Posts
    3,066
    Not having kids, i can't say that this would work, but how about going in the back yard and just ahooting a gun with them, a minor target range. So trying to force them to unplug, will only push them away farther. If you show them that their is another world out there then you can hopefully jumpstart that want to get out there.

    I feel for you or any parent in this endeavor

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    DeWitt, MI
    Posts
    782
    My parents made me split my free time between the following, and I plan to do the same with my kids, who are currently 3 and 5.
    1. One church or volunteer activity - I ushered for a handful of years, was in the choir for a couple years, etc.
    2. Family events - camping, birthday/holiday parties, etc.
    3. A social/sports activity for my age group - I played the sport of the season but eventually settled on soccer year round with outdoor/indoor leagues.

    The rest of the free time, I could choose. It was mostly hunting, fishing, target shooting, and paintball. I did play video games and dink around with computers too, usually when the weather was poor.

    My wife and I do set time or number of show limits on the TV and tablets. After the limit, it might take us 5 minutes to redirect them to something non-electonic, but then they self-sustain with toys, hide & seek, wrestling, etc. Setting time limits and redirecting are likely more difficult with teenagers, but the suggestions to target shoot, maintain gear, etc. are all good. I don't know you're yard situation, but I would spend hours shooting grasshoppers in the garden and the heads off of dandilions in the lawn with a simple Red Ryder BB gun.

    It's hard to remember sometimes that we're parents to our children, not their friends. It's not always our duty to entertain them, but we do need to steer them in the right direction, even if that direction isn't one of our hobbies.
    Last edited by nak81783; 06-09-2017 at 07:51 AM.
    Last of the Salzburg Clan

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    North Cape May, NJ
    Posts
    772
    Being a father of five boys who all live for there video games I can feel your pain. Like some have stated here already target practice and there own rig can go a long way. My three older boys are already calling dibs on the xmag I told them your gonna probably have to pry it off my cold dead fingers but that I would do my best to get them a very similar mag to there own liking when ready to go all in. As for right now they are already shooting my axe and have shot the x plus there uncles e-rt mag curtousy of big evil at targets and things in my backyard. It sounds like with guns as you stated he already has interest in this area. It's more then need to compel him to play paintball and get outside of the game world. I know you speak of surgery and being old but your best option is to as soon as you can physically be able to do it just take him out with you for a game. Just play back not much moving needed and then you can have your son learn the ropes and experience paintball with his father. Like it was said on here usually all it takes is one good game to get hooked for life. Plus he may find those friends out there on the field after a few games. As we all know here we all like to talk about our paintball experiences and bring out all these nice guns with special stories behind them. Paintball is so much more and I hope you can get him out to enjoy it. I know I started when I was 16 and I was hooked from the first time I ran through the woods with paintballs wizzing around me. The adrenaline rush was something impossible to describe but I know many of you know what I'm talking about. I'm a big video gamer myself but even my brother who is a bigger gamer then me at 22 played his first game with me nobody and big evil (I let him use my x by the way) and now he is asking about trying to build a team for some d4-5 Nxl. End of rant you just need to get him out there to play just once.

  12. #12
    It only took one day on the field for my then 12yo son to be hooked.
    I took him, his uncle, and another friend his age. Sometimes I played on their team (as the most experienced of the crew) and sometimes against them. He got to experience the camaraderie of people he didn't even know sharing the experience and talking through the games after each round.
    Now, he can't wait for every opportunity to play.
    He eventually earned his own marker (built from a selection of all the parts I had available) and he loves it. And he loves that he built it and that he "bought" it. He brags about that to all of his new buddies whose parents bought their markers.

    It stinks that you can't play with him, but getting a relative that he knows and likes to go along should be good.
    And like others have said, be positive with him. I don't know that critiquing the electronics will have the effect you're looking for. (coming from a father of 4)

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    323
    Lots of great advice. It only took me playing one time to get hooked on paintball as a teen. Good luck getting him out there.

  14. #14
    Kinda sounds like you need to limit the screen time as a first step.

    How are his grades?
    "Accuracy by aiming."


    Definitely not on the A-Team.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •