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Comment by patrickhogan1 | Hacker News Reader

Is having more tinkerers or Bill Nye's really a bad thing?

From what I’ve seen at maker and science fairs, these events often attract students who feel overlooked in schools that heavily prioritize sports. How many schools have pristine football fields, while the physics teacher is spending money out of their own pocket to build hands-on experiment kits, just to show students that physics is more than what’s in a textbook? (That was the case for my dad)

These fairs open kids eyes to a broader world. One that celebrates creativity, problem-solving, and scientific curiosity.

Not every student needs to become an engineer. What matters is that they feel hopeful about the future and engaged in something positive, instead of turning to drugs or escapism.

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This is depressingly common, and sadly the casualties usually don’t stop at STEM classes but include most other subjects too. I’m not going to say that sports aren’t important in their own right, but it really bums me out that other classes are so often getting neglected (and in some cases shuttered) in their favor.

I've seen STEAM and SHTEAM tossed around as they add art and history to the mix. It's clear at this point that sports were a mistake.

In my hometown the football team never got lavish treatment (but I am aware of that problem in the midwest/south particularly), but what upset me so much was seeing the salaries paid to the school superintendents. In a modest CoL area, a school superintendent does not need to be making $600k+. There should be a salary cap on jobs like that because the extra money does not add value.

> In a modest CoL area, a school superintendent does not need to be making $600k+. There should be a salary cap on jobs like that because the extra money does not add value.

It's especially disgusting when you realize just how little teachers are paid. Where I live the superintendent makes ~$300k. Average teacher salary? $49k-$65k. This is a HCoL area too, you can't live on that.

As someone with family who used to be a teacher, yes their low compensation is infuriating, especially when speaking about those who deeply care about their work and its impact on kids. Their workload is high to start out with and only becomes that much greater when they go out of their way to make sure their classes are well attended to and prospering.

>escapism

A couple of years ago I relized that games have become a religion for many young people. I have made legitimate critical comments about gaming that are resposponded to witb a viritol I only see matched by political flame wars. Its nearly a "taboo" subject for them to be critical of the game or industry.

There’s a reason Microsoft and Tencent have been acquiring game studios like crazy. It’s a direct tap into the youth.

Exactly, well said. Events like this -- and teachers like your dad! -- influence kids in ways that are even more important than career orientation. Not every student is going to become a scientist or engineer, but almost all of them will become taxpayers and voters.

Bill Nye was an aerospace mechanical engineer before he got into SciComm.

I think it's important that there be a path from tinkering into engineering, if the individual desires it, perhaps in addition to "just go to college."

Nye also was a comedian right out of college [0], and was interested in doing a science television show ("content" lol) from pretty early on.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nye#Comedy

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