ARRRRG! My Own Son!!!

[Alferd_Packer]

No, he's not a truther.

He's only 9 years old.

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).

[Walter Ego]

No, he's not a truther.

He's only 9 years old.

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).


Which 'rods' might those be?

[Alferd_Packer]

bugs on tape

http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicrods.html

[Confuseling]

I don't know if I was categorically certain that Santa Claus wasn't real at nine.

Don't panic quite yet, eh? ;)

[PhantomWolf]

I'd point out that Rods aren't a Hoax, merely a misunderstanding of how photographic equipment works blown up into more than it really is.

[Mangoose]

Don't worry, I believed in creationism, the Philadelphia Experiment, and other odd things when I was in high school. He'll probably develop a good BS detector, just give him time. :)

[bynmdsue]

"Rods" is where I gave up on that show.I mean,if you're just going to make kak up...

[Myriad]

No, he's not a truther.


Phew! Please, don't frighten me like that.

It's always so traumatic when we have to permanently silence one of our own children.

Respectfully,
Myriad

[HyJinX]

Rowdy Roddy Piper had that effect on adolescence. I mean, c'mon, "They live" was a pretty realistic motion picture.

Nuff said...riiiight?

http://www.timboucher.com/images/they_live_obey.jpg

[Tbone]

Rowdy Roddy Piper had that effect on adolescence. I mean, c'mon, "They live" was a pretty realistic motion picture.

Nuff said...riiiight?

http://www.timboucher.com/images/they_live_obey.jpg

Hey, I've been trying to find the title of that movie! Thanks :p

[HENTAI DOUKYUSEI JP]

No, he's not a truther.

He's only 9 years old.

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).
I stopped watching the history channel ever since they had that piece about bible codes.
a code that can only be used with a computer to find past history events.
as ussual the skeptics only had 20 seconds on the show.

[PB&J]

The show mentioned in the OP really had me infuriated for the first 2/3 of it. Luckily the documentary did conclude that it was just bugs. Very easy to explain, but they sure dramatized the hell out of it and stretched it to fit an hour.. lame.

[Quad4_72]

I think I was into the Roswell stuff when I was younger. It was just so enticing :D

[The Doc]

Reason and the critical mind takes time to develop. I wouldn't worry too much.

[Alferd_Packer]

Actually, I don’t mind that much that he has a healthy imagination. I know that eventually he will realize that there is no Bigfoot, thunderbird or chupacabra, but he’s having fun with it now, and there is nothing wrong with that.

It was just funny to me to sit down to dinner and hear him and my wife explaining the theories of rods.

[T.A.M.]

He is 9...that says it all. I believed in any number of fictional things at 9. I may have even still believed in Santa and the Easter Bunny at that age.

TAM:)

[LTC8K6]

http://www.opendb.com/sol/seq.htm

This should end any RODS beliefs.

[Showmeproof]

Just look at it this way. Most nine year olds sit home and play video games or watch MTV. At least your son is watching something on the history channel, and even though it deals with monsters, its a show that requires some type of thinking/pondering! Most kids watch the newest rap video on MTV.

[RSLancastr]

Where did I go Wrong?:D

Well, I hope you used it as an opportunity. Whenever one of my kids would bring up something like that, I would explain my (skeptical) point of view on it, and we would discuss the pros and cons of both sides. I tried never to flat out tell them that they were wrong (which would bring up their defenses), but let them think about what I had said and come to their own conclusion.

It usually worked out pretty well.

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

No, he's not a truther.

He's only 9 years old.

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).

I blame his dad for letting him watch the History Channel :p.

Between "Presidential Psychics", prophecies, codes, Nostradamus, the Bermuda Triangle, 9/11 nuttery, aliens and JFK nonsense and those neverending and badly done WW2 half-hours that gave the History Channel the nickname "The Hitler Channel", "Bill Nye the Science Guy" and "The Magic Schoolbus" are more adult, substancial and informative. :D

Well, that's not fair. Except for the mild woo, I really enjoy it and, as someone else said, I think it's great that your son is into something interesting and exciting.

I realize you were kidding but there are a lot worse things for children to be interested in watching.

[Wauthan]

I wish I had a dad like you. I had to figure out that stuff like "rods" were hoaxes all on my own.

Heh, to tell the truth I still don't understand what motivate some hoaxers, and their believers. The whole "fire angel" business caught me completely flatfooted.

[Lithrael]

I was all kinds of into 'the unexplained' when I was a kid too... My dad would flatly (but not judgementally towards me, whew) debunk whatever I brought up at dinner. I couldn't help being into it though, it was just so cool. As I got older I figured out the whole thing about good sources and realised paranormal stuff not only tended to, but flat out always, lacked them.

Still love the way the stuff can bring out chills in the dark but I haven't more than wished wild stories could be true since I was maybe 15.

[Miss Whiplash]

Like everyone else said, he's 9 and a kid. Skeptics do not pop out of the womb replete with knowledge of what is woo and what is not. At 9, I thought there was life on Mars and flying saucers were real. My parents told me it was not so. I, however, wanted to see for my self. For years I read everything I could on the subjects until one day, I found my parents were right. That's how we learn.

[krelnik]

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).

I agree with RSL: don't look at it as a failure, look at it as an opportunity.

Spring is starting in the northern hemisphere. Insects are on their way. Do a little research into the phenomenon, and figure out which insects that are common to your area are best suited to be photographed in this way. If you can, figure out a location near your home where those insects should be found in large quantities, and when they should be plentiful.

Then turn it into a father-son project to go photograph some rods! Be sure to use a digital camera so you can look at the results and point out the bugs right there.

Of course, don't tell him up front that your aim is to debunk. Perhaps even a little white lie that someone at work told you a good location to see rods might help. Just put him in a situation where the evidence is in front of him. And have some fun.

[Rocko]

Don't worry, I believed in creationism, the Philadelphia Experiment, and other odd things when I was in high school. He'll probably develop a good BS detector, just give him time. :)

Yeah, exactly. I'd go further, and say an early interest in this sort of stuff may indicate intelligence and an inquiring mind; exactly the sort of person who'll later go on to work out that it's rubbish.

Man, at that age I was *all* about the paranormal.

[Gate2501]

Rowdy Roddy Piper had that effect on adolescence. I mean, c'mon, "They live" was a pretty realistic motion picture.

Nuff said...riiiight?

http://www.timboucher.com/images/they_live_obey.jpg


I actually bought this movie for a few bucks in a bargain bin recently... Just to show my friends the alley fight where the main character and his friend suplex each other like 500 times in a fight about awesome sunglasses.

Perhaps the funniest piece of film I have ever seen that was not meant to be funny.

[RSLancastr]

I actually bought this movie for a few bucks in a bargain bin recently... Just to show my friends the alley fight where the main character and his friend suplex each other like 500 times in a fight about awesome sunglasses.

Perhaps the funniest piece of film I have ever seen that was not meant to be funny.Did you ever see the South Park episode which does a shot-by-shot recreation of that fight scene? Utterly hilarious, but only if you have seen the movie.

[Kahalachan]

Kids have a wonderful imagination. I think he'll be fine. I was scared of ghosts, despite being raised Christian and there were no such things as ghosts cause we all face judgement when we die and never wander around on earth.

So no matter how much we teach kids, they'll have their own imaginations and grow out of it.

[TShaitanaku]

No, he's not a truther.

He's only 9 years old.

He watched "Monster Quest" on the history Channel and was hooked into the whole "rods" hoax.

{hang my head in shame}

Where did I go Wrong?

(I blame his mother, her uncle was involved in the JFK nonsense and she believes some of that).


Perhaps, you went wrong in not focussing on the end of the show where they completely debunk and explain the "phenomenon?"

[Mark A. Siefert]

Now might be a good time to use this incident to teach him some elementary skepticism! :)

Ask him "OK, you think that these are some kind of alien life form. What else can they be?"

[ptarmigan]

Age 9 is the perfect time to begin his education in logic and critical thinking. That's the age where kids start becoming argumentative. That's the age where they start questioning the "whys" of how the world works. That's right around when, on their own, they'll start questioning the existence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

You could use the socratic method to get him to support his ideas. Using a series of questions, lead him to an end that (hopefully) consists of critical thinking. This way, he comes to the outcome that you want on his own and will internalize it a bit more. My 10 year old and I have great fun discussing topics such has ghosts, lake monsters, and the like. I don't tell her what I think: I ask her questions that make her support her own conclusions. On more than one occasion, she's changed directions in her thinking process and come out on the side of real science instead of psudoscience. The trick is finding the right questions to ask. Another hard part is watching your kid struggle with the answers on her own without interfering. Sometimes these discussions last for days, with plenty of time in-between for her to think on and research a topic.

[WildCat]

Rowdy Roddy Piper had that effect on adolescence. I mean, c'mon, "They live" was a pretty realistic motion picture.

Nuff said...riiiight?

http://www.timboucher.com/images/they_live_obey.jpg
The fight scene in that movie was so classically bad (put on the glasses!) that South Park used it in the the Cripple Fight episode - "T-T-Timmy, put on the hat".

[Zygar]

My 7 year old daughter believes in ghosts. She acts like I am an idiot for telling her they are not real.

[Dr H]

I stopped watching the history channel ever since they had that piece about bible codes.
a code that can only be used with a computer to find past history events.
as ussual the skeptics only had 20 seconds on the show.

Ok, I haven't owned a TV in 20 years or so, and I see precious little of it, so please bear with me if this sounds naive:

The "history channel" is doing shows on bible codes?

What, they ran out of things like the conquests of Alexander, the voyages of Magellan, and the discoveries of Newton to present?

[RSLancastr]

The fight scene in that movie was so classically bad (put on the glasses!) that South Park used it in the the Cripple Fight episode - "T-T-Timmy, put on the hat".Beat you to it in post #27!

[korenyx]

I think I was into the Roswell stuff when I was younger. It was just so enticing :D

It took me forever to give up on Nessie, but the Mega Mouth shark helped. It showed me there are still wonders to be found.

[Mark A. Siefert]

What, they ran out of things like the conquests of Alexander, the voyages of Magellan, and the discoveries of Newton to present?

<Sterotypical American TV Executive>

Bubby! Sweetheart! You're talking crazy! This is the video equivalent of Sominex? It's not what the viewers WANT, and don't want to be educated, they want to entertained! They watch the WWII stuff for the flag-waving and blood and guts, and they LOVE the UFO and ghosts-and-ghoulies stuff.

This network is out give the people what they WANT. If they don't get what they want, we don't get what WE want; sports cars, lobster brunches, and $5000 per hour call girls!

[WildCat]

Beat you to it in post #27!
Damn you, how did I miss that! Aren't you supposed to be out stopping Sylvia or somethinmg?

:p

[Prometheus]

I actually bought this movie for a few bucks in a bargain bin recently... Just to show my friends the alley fight where the main character and his friend suplex each other like 500 times in a fight about awesome sunglasses.

Perhaps the funniest piece of film I have ever seen that was not meant to be funny.

That movie had the best fight scene ever, and one of the best lines ever:
I have come here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And right now, I'm all out of bubblegum.

But back on topic, I wouldn't worry about the boy in the least. I was thoroughly woo right into my mid 30's, but I still recovered.

[Brattus]

I don't know if I was categorically certain that Santa Claus wasn't real at nine.

Don't panic quite yet, eh? ;)

So, uh, Santa Claus isn't real? :jaw-dropp

[Humphreys]

Give the kid a break, he's 9!

I believed in all that kinda crap until I was at least 16. It bought me a lot of enjoyment too, I don't think it hurts to let kids be kids, and then introduce them to the cold, harsh real world when they're ready to grow up.

JMO.

[Dr H]

<Sterotypical American TV Executive>

Bubby! Sweetheart! You're talking crazy! This is the video equivalent of Sominex? It's not what the viewers WANT, and don't want to be educated, they want to entertained! They watch the WWII stuff for the flag-waving and blood and guts, and they LOVE the UFO and ghosts-and-ghoulies stuff.

This network is out give the people what they WANT. If they don't get what they want, we don't get what WE want; sports cars, lobster brunches, and $5000 per hour call girls!

OK, I can see the call girls.
Beats tapping your foot for sex in the toilet stall of a public restroom.