forgot to mention that we shared a field with the noisiest bunch of D of E students i have ever met. oh, they stuck to the rules allright, no noise between 11pm and 6am. thats WAAAYYY too early for me!! am felling better now after about 6 litres of nescafe!
I'm always up at six, and can often be found sitting quietly outside my tent with a cuppa, and you would be surprised at the number of people that are actually up at this time. Many family sites are awake by 7.30.
Odds are that those on the Duke of Edinburgh would have been starting the day's activity around 8.
PMSL I just asked son what time he was up last weekend when he did his DofE and he said NO WAY were they up at 6am ! Son actually looked quite shocked that anyone would be up at that time
My daughter is about to start her gold D of E. I personally think that it is nice that youngsters are doing something useful with their lives. Is there anything they CAN do without them being thought of as yobs???
Debandandy didn`t call them yobs jakey, just said they were the noisiest bunch of DofE students they had ever met. I do agree though that it is nice that kids like ours are going out there and doing something worthwhile, rather than hanging on street corners.
My son is 15 now and taller than me and I would like to think he is a nice, polite, helpful lad. In fact I have been told he is by the people he delivers papers to every weekend and also by the next door neighbour, who asked my son where she could get her bike tyre fixed as she had a puncture and was most impressed when my son not only fixed it for her himself there and then, but refused any payment for doing so. Unfortunately it is a sign of the times today when teenage boys who wear hoodies, as my son does, are automatically viewed as trouble, I would just like to ask anyone who does come across lads like that on campsites to give them a chance, after all, it could be my helpful son you are looking at !
Oh...................I am sorry if I have slightly hijacked this thread, but I repeat,debandandy in no way labelled the DofE kids they came across as yobs, just noisy.
Thanks beezers. It wasn't debandandy that slightly wound me up, but the second poster down who would'nt want them on their campsite. Anyway probably over reacting as tired as I've just come back from guide camp this afternoon where the girls were exeptionally well behaved ,but as leaders the preparation and actual event is rewarding but tiring and one of the leaders gives up nearly every weekend to assess and run the Dof E scheme in our area. I know kids are kids but a bit of understanding and welcoming on campsites would be nice. Believe me I've stayed on sites where middle aged couples and families have been noisier than teenagers but I wouldn't tar them all with the same brush.
i have an unwritten rule that sitting outside with a coffee and a quiet chat is fine before 8.00, but ball games etc are a no-no before about 9.00. this is just out of respect for fellow campers, never mind the 6.00am rule. as far as D of E students go, i can only hope that my 2 boys would end up achieving this in a few years. respect to the students, and also to the supervisors who give up their time (and a lot of energy!)
jakey49, i didn't mean that i wouldn't want them there at all, sorry if it sounded that way. i know when i was that age i would have been noisy and i wouldn't have wanted to have been woken up by me!
i'm all for teenagers doing something worthwhile, i'm on the committee at a community centre and we do all that we can to provide and find provition for facilities for todays youth. problem is the amount of them that have this can't be bothered attitude.
Did my D of E silver back in 1969 in an old ridge tent with wooden poles, & ties (no zip) for the door. The only reason we woke up at 8.30am was because a cow had put it's head between the ties of the door & got stuck - nightmare to wake up & see a cow's head in your tent Other than this event happening, I think we'd have slept till at least 9.30 after walking 15 miles carrying all our kit the day before.
Quote: Originally posted by JK98 on 06/7/2008
Did my D of E silver back in 1969 in an old ridge tent with wooden poles, & ties (no zip) for the door.
I did my D of E in 1986/87ish but I think we were still using your tent!!!
No cows were we camped though but lots of sheep, its amazing how noisy they are close up, like VERY VERY lound bleating! I think a lot of respect to those youngsters doing D of E these days as it sets them apart from the masses.
I feel we are very lucky as we live in the countryside, yet we are not too far from a town. Our village literally has nothing for the kids to do, but luckily my OH has always taken son fishing etc with him since he was old enough to go. Son is now 15 year old and although he does hang around at nights with the other kids, he has enough hobbies to keep himself out of mischief and stop himself getting bored. Fishing is one of his favourite past times, as is his jump bike.
Son has always been interested in taking things apart, as he has seen OH fiddle with machinery etc all his life. It was still a bit of a shock when I found him in the garden one day with his Big John tractor up on bricks with the wheels missing though! Son was four at the time and he`s been doing similar things ever since. One of his main occupations is fixing his friends bikes and I quite often find strange bikes in the garden waiting for son to bleed their brakes, fix their chains, replace handlebars etc. I know I shouldn`t complain as at least he is keeping himself occupied, but he seems to be turning my front sitting room into his repair shop
I think the problem with a lot of kids today is their parents are too busy to spend time with them. Most parents have to work full time and are then too tired to do much with the kids at the weekends. Skills that parents have learned from their parents, like fishing, knitting etc that would give kids something to do other than hang round on corners, are not being passed on due to lack of time.
That`s another reason why we love camping so much, it gives us quality time to spend with our kids. Hats off to all the kids who do their DofE and all the other activities like this and if more things like this were available in Inner City areas perhaps there would be less crime. As the saying goes, the devil makes work for idle hands!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: P.S. UP AT 6.30. NOT GOOD.
Other than this event happening, I think we'd have slept till at least 9.30 after walking 15 miles carrying all our kit the day before. 
