Troller
Full Member
- Mar 5, 2016
- 132
- 138
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher F5 DD, Si Robertson TC2X
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Its been a while since I have been on here, its been even longer since I have been out dirt fishing! I have been so focused on my final months of my Masters Degree that I have scarcely had time to breath let alone think of getting some free time to go metal detecting. Last Friday the bug hit me again and since I only had four students in my group I decided to introduce them to the hobby! They loved it! Their first reaction was that they were going to find all kinds of gold and treasure. After they patiently sat through a fifteen minute introduction in which I quickly dispelled any false notions of finding buried gold in our area the kids were still very anxious to get started. I had two detectors there and so the students were split into two groups. The students were taught the proper way to swing the coil and proper digging techniques and then let lose on the school grounds. I half expected a disaster, however the students were incredibly respectful and followed instructions to the letter. What I found even more enjoyable was that everything the students dug up was treasure to them! They were so excited to dig up even a penny. One student found an arcade token that is incredibly unique and one in fair condition is worth about ten dollars to collectors or so the internet tells me. This activity with students has had such a far reaching impact! For example students wanted to research their finds. The arcade token is one example of this. Every student picked up a chrome book during their free time and searched the internet trying to figure out the tokens origins. To be clear we are not talking a run o the mill token here. It is about the size of a half dollar! Lastly the students are constantly on their best behavior now because they know that if they can't be trusted to follow the everyday rules they can't be trusted with the machines.
I realize the paradox in introducing people to the hobby, the more people who partake in the hobby the less goodies there are for us to find. In this case however we are talking about 2nd 3rd and 4th graders. Due to the fact that they probably wont be able to convince mom and dad to invest in a decent machine and as such this is their only opportunity to experience the hobby. On the other hand though many of the students asked how I learned to metal detect and my reply was, "I don't spend all my time on an electronic device! Instead of hunting for virtual treasure I get out there and do it for real!" To finish this post up if getting one or two students away from sitting on their tablet for two to three hours a week means I find a few less coins then it was worth it.
I realize the paradox in introducing people to the hobby, the more people who partake in the hobby the less goodies there are for us to find. In this case however we are talking about 2nd 3rd and 4th graders. Due to the fact that they probably wont be able to convince mom and dad to invest in a decent machine and as such this is their only opportunity to experience the hobby. On the other hand though many of the students asked how I learned to metal detect and my reply was, "I don't spend all my time on an electronic device! Instead of hunting for virtual treasure I get out there and do it for real!" To finish this post up if getting one or two students away from sitting on their tablet for two to three hours a week means I find a few less coins then it was worth it.
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