Taking your kids chasing

[Dan Robinson]

Chasing with younger kids would definately need to be 'toned down' as far as duration/distance goes. Everything would need to revolve around their comfort level. A local afternoon chase of a few hours would be realistic.

Some kids may really grab an interest in storms and might be able to handle the real deal. I think of my interest in trains at a young age - I had no problem with hardcore 14-hour steam excursion trips than started at 6AM - I was on cloud nine the whole day and didn't want to go home.

 

[Bill Doms]

I remember watching Bill Doms chase with his son on the show with Melanie and Peggy. Maybe he can chime in on his thoughts/feelings about chasing with your children. I personally feel that they would be safer with me.

FWIW, the positive to negative feedback was at least 20:1. However, the few problems we had with Cullen being involved in the show we doozies. One was an independent child protection activist from Miami, FL who of course was screaming endangerment. Nothing ended up in court but she was a pain in the rear for a couple of months. We finally squashed her claims statistically basically with what Dan stated:

In a court of law I'm sure they'd have a problem proving, with evidence, that chasing was dangerous to a kid compared to taking them camping or letting him/her ride their bike down the neighborhood street.

The weirdest and worst one had nothing to do with endangerment from chasing. Cullen's promo photos on the show's website got hot linked to a fourm on an FBI pedophile watch list. I need to publically thank Eric Whitehill and his FBI pals for taking care of that one and Jim Saueressig for the moral support LOL.

Cullen's mom (my ex-wife), and the rest of our families have always supported EITHER of the kids going with me. The ex-factor could obviously very subjective in some case but not at all in ours. Bottom line is if you think your ex would cause problems from taking the kids chasing, don't do it. I wouldn't want to be the precedent.

So, when it comes down to the basic question of taking the kids with and at what age, it all comes down to a personal choice and when the kid is ready to hit the road. Cullen was an exception as he grew up in a car seat with chasing being as "normal" in our family as spending a day on the water in boat is to another.

One final thought on the subject. Not directed at any one person but to anyone who thinks of kids as being a pain while chasing. Parenting means wearing a lot of different hats for a lot of different roles. If you even remotely think having your child with (or even having a child) is going to be an inconvience to you, don't bring them with. You won't enjoy the chase yourself and kids are masters at picking up on vibes. Being an educator is by far the most important role as a parent and if you are willing to turn a chase into a lesson on geography, history, economics, etc as well as atmospheric science, have at it. Just don't forget handi-wipes, some extra munchies and to make the day FUN!

 

[Kris Hair]

My son, Dylan is 9 years old. He'll be 10 this August. Some of you on this forum have met him, and he's a great kid (I'm not just being a proud papa). He went on nearly 90% of the chases that I went on this year. Riding shotgun, or in the back seat.

He truly shares the same passion that I have on seeing storms first hand and never complains about the drive, idle time, etc. This year I bought him a Fuji 8MP camera, gave him a 4GB card, and told him to have fun with it. Some of the pictures he's came back with are as stellar as some of mine.

We have made trips of over 600 miles in a day, and a couple of multi day trips. Neither of which he complains. If he gets bored, he sleeps. Works out well for both of us. I love to see his face when we work all day to get in that right spot and when the magic happens, it's just as rewarding as seeing the storms themself.

My wife told me the other day, "He'll carry what you guys are doing with him for the rest of his life, and that should make you proud."

I say if they have a TRUE passion for it, let em have at it. YOUR experience should be the guide as where or where not to be.

Storm Chasing is only as dangerous as you make it.

 

[Danny Neal]

To add from my previous post....

I have 3 nephews. One is 6 one is 4 and the other turns 1 in a couple days. Now of course the 1 year old probably doesn't know much about it....but the 6 and 4 year old are glued to the TV during severe weather. They have seen all of my chasing videos and I even Youtube more videos for their enjoyment. Now they aren't MY kids, but I would love to take them when they get a bit older. Unlike me, they have no fear of storms at this age. I was terrified up until the age of 8. Then I learned to love and enjoy them. The 6 year old only talks about the Goshen, WY tornado that everyone and their dog saw live or on TV. Since they are not my kids I can't just take them, but when I have kids of my own I would only hope I have kids with that much love for severe weather as I do and my nephews do.

As for child activists.....PUHHHHLEASE.

 

[Randall Cooper]

Danny, I too have a 6 year old nephew, and he thinks its cool that I storm chase. I asked his mom(my sister) if it would be ok to take him chasing someday. She said she would prefer another 2 or 3 years and let him get just a couple years older, and than if he still wanted to do it, go for it. My sister has even expressed her interest in going with us when I take him, she just wants to see what its like, so Im pretty sure I'll be taking them as early as the 2011 season on local events. And when I have kids of my own, I will most likely take them chasing with me if they express any interest whatsoever in it.

 

[Keith Mullen]

Take your child chasing day

I agree with the majority on this.

My son just turned 5, and although we haven't had the opportunity to do a true "all day chase", he loves severe weather. Needless to say, if I were to go chasing without him, I would probably hear about it for years...

...then again, he was (is) the only kid I personally know of that preferred "Storms Of..." over Barney...

It was priceless watching my Mother In-Laws head spin when he was trying to describe wall clouds and down drafts to her... (he was two).

He will definately be joining me and continue to go with me on trips of shorter duration.

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

My son will be 18 in a few weeks. Next year he and his dad are going with me. I guess he is a little too old for this thread.
Melissa

 

[Brett Adair]

One final thought on the subject. Not directed at any one person but to anyone who thinks of kids as being a pain while chasing. Parenting means wearing a lot of different hats for a lot of different roles. If you even remotely think having your child with (or even having a child) is going to be an inconvience to you, don't bring them with. You won't enjoy the chase yourself and kids are masters at picking up on vibes. Being an educator is by far the most important role as a parent and if you are willing to turn a chase into a lesson on geography, history, economics, etc as well as atmospheric science, have at it. Just don't forget handi-wipes, some extra munchies and to make the day FUN!

Exactly....my kids have always had fun and been helpful when in my company during a chase. They ask many questions about the storms and certain methods of the chase. So, in my opinion it's a very educational trip for them as well as a bonding time with the kids.

 

[Payton Gannaway]

It all depends on how you do it. If you are staying a few miles away and watching, great. However, if you are a quarter mile away and backing up down a dirt road asking your kid if anyone is behind you that might be too much.

 

[Eric Baker]

Look I understand the concern of people taking their own children chasing. Children bye the way are kids under 12. But apparently having children is a life altering experience, I wouldn't know 'cause I ain't got none, and your children are the most valuable things in your life. That is, until they are old enough to ask you for money. Like real money, "mom can I get a 20 so i can go to the arcade." Or, "dad can I go see a George Strait concert?" And then college ugh. So you get the picture. These experienced chasers that are taking their "babies" (loving way to call children) chasing know what they are doing. And, at the same time, they understand that they have to tend to their child's fears, needs, and curiosity.

Now as far as distance. A quarter mile has 1320 feet. That's 3.66 football fields (1 football field=360 feet). Id say that that is about as close as anyone needs to get to a tornado, well maybe 2 football fields (an eighth of a mile) if its a weak looking one. I'd say any responsible parent would place themselves about that, quarter mile, distance from a tornado.

As a side note, a mile is a long way. 5280 feet. That's 14.66 football fields.

 

[Joshua Nall]

A football field is 360 feet if you include the end zones. I commonly hear people talk about a football field being 300 feet or 100 yards.... not that it matters, but you had me confused there for a bit. When judging distances I've always used the 300 feet figure.

The deal is its not for anyone to decide this parent is being responsible or that parent is being irresponsible, or if doing this certain thing is "too much". It's fine to have that opinion, I have plenty of my own, but when we are talking about some sort of action taken against these parents, then that is crossing the line. 30 children have drowned this year already in the state of Texas. Some of those parents were probably being irresponsible and now their child is dead. But are we going to ban families with young children from having a pool or going to the lake for a swim. Last I checked this is still the land of the free. If a chasing family gets hit by a tornado and a child is killed I can see this topic popping up again, but the conclusion is the same. They have the freedom to take their kids chasing just like their neighbors down the street have the right to take their kids swimming.

Not that this applies to anyone here, but looking at the big picture, what this boils down to is the fact that some people just like to control and tell other people what to do.

 

[Kory Hartman]

My 5 yr. old goes with me on local chases. He's been in the car with me for 2.5-inch hail and 50+mph wind. I have had to tell him "no" on days I think will be big tornado days. My style of chasing also changes (more miles between us and the storm).

Here's another angle... about 3 weeks ago we had a day with a lot of tornado warnings. Kind of a "surprise" day and my wife and kids had to bring my camera chargers to me (45 mi north of home).

Later in the afternoon as we were meeting up, a TOR was issued for Mitchell. Even though there were 3 dangerous supercells basically "surrounding" the area, I felt my family was safer chasing with me instead of sitting at home in a TOR without me.

 

[Steve Worthington]

I take my kids chasing with me all the time and see nothing wrong with it. BUT, I also let both my girls have drag cars too and one of them has a blown alky door car
Gotta live and not worry about what could happen or you might as well just lock yourself in the house.

 

[Jeff Duda]

I agree with pretty much everyone on this forum. The matter is individually based for each family and for each child and I think kids would be safer out chasing with their parents as long as the parents were experienced and not radical (it would be okay if they were radical if the kid was okay with it ).

I would think a child services person would have a difficult time proving a parent put his/her child in danger by taking them chasing anyway. But as a short argument: suppose one does prove that taking their kid chasing was endangering the child (assuming nothing wild happened). If that actually did go through, then you'd have a whole slew of frivolous cases happening because parents inadvertently drive their kids through thunderstorms all the time! I don't have kids, but suppose I did and I drove home from a family vacation through an MCS that was severe warned and produced severe weather within a few miles of me while driving through it. Does that mean I endangered my child?

 

[Eric Baker]

Not at all relevant to the question... Just a side note that is relevant to my previous post.

The magical thing about a football field is that it has goal posts. You can stand at one goal post and look at the other post and that's 360 feet. You can then examine both goal posts to determine how much smaller things get with size. Both posts are exactly the same size, naturally the furthest post is smaller. You can thusly carry the ratio to match the distance.