I didn't say it was intentional, any more than the varous conclaves are intentional. I didn't think your article was saying that the one you attended was purposely trying to keep young people away.

As far as taking kids out of school for a week, as a teacher I gotta say that there is nothing worse you could do for your kids, especially the older they get. With the amount of information society says we have to cram down their throats, especially if you have an Honors student or a kid taking an AP class, a week can be a killer. If you have a student with marginal grades it is the same thing, because if they aren't getting good grades, it's because they don't do the work. What makes you think they are going to do it when they are on vacation? If they have poor grades because they don't understand the material, and don't seek extra help, you are murdering their chances if you take them away from available help and expect them to do it on their own AND comprehend the information. My kid is a 3rd grader. Last week, they introduced multiplication by 2s and 5s in the same week. In addition, he had a dozen new words to learn, reading to do, and social studies and science (these last 2 were done in class only). It would have made a real problem to take him out.

These ain't the same schools we all went to anymore. Accountability is the new buzzword...but most people who are down on education don't seem to realize that accountability goes both ways.

Sorry if this came off as a rant, I don' t mean it that way. I appreciate what you are trying to say, LF, and I would love to be able to do it. I realize that fishing and school don't meet up very well when it comes to the calendar. I guess this is the crux of the issue, so it's hard to get kids into the non-water and camaraderie aspects of our sport. Some day, my kids will be out of school, and I will finally get a chance to meet a bunch of the great people here. Until then, I hope to remain ether-friends with all of you.