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[MilwaukeeRoad]

I am 13 (8th grade) and I guess I am extremely weird for modeling. I quit model railroading because I got made fun of it. I am planning a new model railroad right now but hesistating because I may get harrassed again.

[Anonymous]

You're lucky it's only trains they are teasing you about. Don't worry about it. If you like trains keep on playing just don't broadcast it through school. You can be a closet railroader for a few years (drawing track plans, practicing airbrushing, photographing real trains, etc). I suffered the same kind of teasing in school. Teen boys are among the worst for picking out something about another kid and ripping into him. Sort of a wolf pack mind set. Fortunately this only lasts til the mid 20's or so when most lose the macho, jock, frat boy mentality and grow up. I got into hot rod cars and guitar and waited out sophomoric hi-kinks of my so called peers. (and I've had some pretty fast cars and can play guitar pretty well. 2 definite assets when you discover girls.) I'm sure in this PC world there is a new word for anything that falls outside the narrow definition of cool but 30 yrs ago everything and anything was 'gay'. That's gay, you're gay, etc. Sticks and Stones.... right? I'm sure in a short while you'll have bigger fish to fry than worrying about trains and mono-syllabic jerks who want to ruin everybodies fun. Soon you'll be looking at girls differently, and getting your drivers license and saving for a car, and trying to clear up you skin. and let's not forget trying to look cool. YIKES!! It's part of growing up. Don't worry though you're trains will be there waiting for you to pull them out from under the bed or the closet or the attic when the time is right and the coast is clear. Usually when you've got a kid of you're own. Mike

[RR Redneck]

Being a closet railroader is NEVER appropriate! I am a model railroader and proud of it. I make sure that everyone at the school knows that is my hobby, that it is what I enjoy doing, and that I WILL be respected as they would expect me to respect them. The problem is alot of teen modelers out there are scared to fight back. You HAVE to fight back if you wish to maintain a shred of dignity and gain any respect! Now you can look at it from another route. The majority of our peers that pick on us will NEVER be have anything to claim other than a well-fair check becuase they were too busy drinking, partying, doing drugs, or being a bad a** while they were in school. This is the reason I can stand the occasional insult. If it is a daily thing, you got to fight back though. THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT! It is a hard thing to do, but trust me it is better than being treated like crap, just becuase you like something that not everyone else does. THIS ADVICE IS TO THE BOTH OF YOU!!

[Railfan1]

Yup, I have always gotten teased about wanting to be a Locomotive engineer. We'll see who gets the last laugh..... Don't let it bother you, don't let someone else's ignorance keep you from doing what you want to do, that's what freedom is all about, doing what you want.

[donoteat]

Being made fun of?

I'm in 8th grade as well and I sometimes feel as though I'm the onlu teenage model railroader in the world, and yes, I am regularly made of. Or, rather, I would be, if I was hanging around with the sort of people that make fun of people. I am actually one of the people that will occasionally make fun of others. The reason why these people do it is because you are either:

 1. Attempting to fit in and not doing a good job at it

 or

 2. Completly stupid and unable to do anything right at all.  Hardly anyone fits into this category. 

 One way to avoid being made fun of is to stop trying to fit in. Most teenagers have a mad urge to "fit in." Someone has to lead, and that leader never tries to fit in. I used to be the geek/nerd/smarty-pants. Then I did something completely crazy. I used my talents to make something cool. In my case, I used my talent as a computer guy and my talent for having a Macintosh computer to make an entertaining movie for my class. Shortly afterward I became one of the most popular kids in class. So my advice would be:

    Don't try to fit in! Stand out! Be assertive!

and

    Get a Mac. You'll never want to use Windows again, and the programs included in iLife will allow you to do all sorts of creative things no one would think you'd be able to do like movie making, composing music, and making fully fledged DVDs withy menus.

    Of course, you can use any skill you have. Model railroading? Build a model skatepark, or whatever it is that these people like, and show them that you can model anything.

   

[alexweiihman]

I am 13 (8th grade) and I guess I am extremely weird for modeling. I quit model railroading because I got made fun of it. I am planning a new model railroad right now but hesistating because I may get harrassed again.

 

Im 13 too just brush off the coments and iggnor them.  By the way what do you model

[RR Redneck]

I am 13 (8th grade) and I guess I am extremely weird for modeling. I quit model railroading because I got made fun of it. I am planning a new model railroad right now but hesistating because I may get harrassed again.

 

Im 13 too just brush off the coments and iggnor them.  By the way what do you model

What I said works better. LOL

[Anonymous]

 Now that upsets me ! Son believe me those idiots making fun of you for railroading have no imagination or creative abilities ! Model railroading shows artistic and creative abilities and a collection of knowledge . I'd love to know what they're in to. They'd have to have small minds to even do such things and their future will bare that out . You know what they say " SMALL MINDS HAVE BIG MOUTHS " and it is usually true. I have been into trains since I was 7 or 8 years old and have been a CEO of 3 companies in my past .... owned 50 % of 2 of them and still hold the paperwork on one . Yes I heard that " playing with toy trains mouth too . But it kept my imagination and dreams going through life and it was a terrific way to unwind from the stress and still is . Ignore them ! Most likely the junk they spend their money on won't be worth pennies in the future but yours will !  

[vsmith]

Well since Bergie deleted my initial post due to a one slightly offensive word.

.

..I would have edited it if asked Eric....but, whatever....

.

I got all thru school and the fact that I had a model RR was never a real issue because I never made a big deal about it myself, it was just another thing I did throughout school, I also did BMX biking, trying to sneak into R movies, chasing girls, cruising in cars, ya know, the usual stuff kids do in school. I will say that I had no desire to hang with the "Cool" kids since they were all A#1 jerks and I was glad to have the real friends I had that were cool with me just the way I was. I never made an attempt to "convert" them as I already knew they were not interested. Honestly I didnt really want to have someone else coming in trying to change my master plan so I kept my hobby mostly to myself. That was fine with me, it was my hobby, something for me to do on my own time. If no one else at my school cared, that was fine with me and I really didnt care for them to know about it anyway. I found a circle of friends that I could do all the other things I enjoyed in high school and still kept the hobby for my own entertainment. Maybe thats the key.

[Derrick Moore]

I am 13 (8th grade) and I guess I am extremely weird for modeling. I quit model railroading because I got made fun of it. I am planning a new model railroad right now but hesistating because I may get harrassed again.

 

Im 13 too just brush off the coments and iggnor them.  By the way what do you model

What I said works better. LOL

Welcome to my world.

 

[RR Redneck]

Well since Bergie deleted my initial post due to a one slightly offensive word.

.

..I would have edited it if asked Eric....but, whatever....

.

I got all thru school and the fact that I had a model RR was never a real issue because I never made a big deal about it myself, it was just another thing I did throughout school, I also did BMX biking, trying to sneak into R movies, chasing girls, cruising in cars, ya know, the usual stuff kids do in school. I will say that I had no desire to hang with the "Cool" kids since they were all A#1 jerks and I was glad to have the real friends I had that were cool with me just the way I was. I never made an attempt to "convert" them as I already knew they were not interested. Honestly I didnt really want to have someone else coming in trying to change my master plan so I kept my hobby mostly to myself. That was fine with me, it was my hobby, something for me to do on my own time. If no one else at my school cared, that was fine with me and I really didnt care for them to know about it anyway. I found a circle of friends that I could do all the other things I enjoyed in high school and still kept the hobby for my own entertainment. Maybe thats the key.

Think back to the garden railroad coffee shop a started awhile back. Now we are even.

[Anonymous]

I ran trains at home, never talked about it at school and therefore never got teased about it.

30 years ago in middle school there is no teasing, only bullying that gets settled with fists or you will be pernamently bullied. (That is NOT the solution today. Talk to a counsler or a trusted School Staff if this is a problem) a few fallen bullies later there is not much teasing left to worry about.

I got laughed at for many things but not about trains. I saved it just for me and kept it out of the school. The strange thing is we were near some very big train shows with lots of children of similar ages and I never saw ONE school mate from the same schoolhouse in any of these shows.

The strange thing is once you are 18 or 21 and is considered an adult for Tax paying and legal purposes the little teasing problems stop.

Run trains, enjoy them and move forward with your plans. If they dont like it then stuff em.

[railfanespee4449]

I'm 14, and instead of being teased at school, I met a new friend who's turning into a railfan!

[Alcoboy12]

I quit when I was 11 I am 12 and I love trains again I quit because I got into cars...I love both of them im in a SpEd program and if someone makes fun of me in school they get 5 day iss

[RR Redneck]

That sounds like a heck of a good deterent.