Paintball and Parents

[homedogmike]

My parents are totally against paintball.
I still manage to go paintballin every so often but if I were to convince them how fun paintballin really is they would help me finance buyin the gear. Without there approval I cant buy any gear etc.Do you guyz hav any tips on how I could convince them to allow me to go paintballin and buy gear (spyder shutter/xtra loader co2 paintballs mask etc.)

[Killah222]

try and convince one of your parents to start playing paintball. or you could tell your parents to come and watch you play.

my parents dont like me playing because it is so expensive. im going low on funds too, my christmas and birthday money is running out. so now i have to go and find a job.

[SEPHIROTH_086]

This worked for me, ask them if they consider it a sport or hobby and if they say sport then say why dont you suport me in it, if they say hobby then say well come and play and see how much of a sport is it and support me in it:D :D

Good luck

[UTLadiesMan]

Do they have any hobbies or partake in any sports? Mine golf, and that costs just about the same per person as paintball, so that's a free chip.

[Seithman]

I guess my first question on this is quite simple: WHY don't they support you? Is it just the finances? Or are there other reasons.

As someone who has dealt with people quite a bit, I've found that often times, people have more reasons for taking a certain stance than they let on. More importantly, the reasons that they don't verballize are usually the more important reasons.

Before you try to convince your parents to change their tune, make sure you know why they're playing the current tune. Then address their concerns.

[FrOnTMaN]

if they say that its dangerous, then tell them that a study was done in 1988, and paintball was the lowest injury rate (under bowling!). and that in 1999 a study was done by the same group and it came out the same, yet the paintball injury rate went down 1/3. that'll tell em.
(btw its all true)

[DeAd SoUlJa]

my dad is against it pretty much because of the price:pissed: he says its too expensive and always asks me why i have to customize my marker and that i should of bought one from walmart:laugh: never! he also hates when i talk about it and never wants to take me to buy paint or get my nitro and co2 filled. cant wait till 1 more year. i get my car and then i could get it myself
my mom is a different story. she supports me because its good exercise and she knows the saftey record thanks to my big mouth becaus im always talkin about paintball. she said she would never play but said she'd support me and my team if we entered some tourneys.

[Seithman]

The price issue is always a big one. Unfortunately, it's not one that someone outside of a given activity is going to understand. And I'm not just talking paintball here. My parents don't really understand why I spend close to $100 every month or so on books on spirituality and writing. They don't see the point in it. Of course, I'm fortunate in that I'm 27 and spending my own money, so it's my decision. ;)

The best thing that you can do is try to relate the need for the expenditure in ways that your father understands. You can try to point out to him why a "Walmart Specialty" just isn't going to cut it when looking to get a marker. Your best bet there is to compare the quality, and then find something (be it electronics, food, or porn ;)) where quality matters more to him than price does.

[DeAd SoUlJa]

i told him that the quality of walmart markers suck compared to what i have now. he just doesnt see the point in spending money on this sport when i could be saving for my car or college. he says i should buy paint from walmart and not waste it online:laugh: yea thats going to work well

[Seithman]

So the truth comes out! He's a pragmatist! :laugh:

Well, I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't be spending money on paintball. However, your father does bring up interesting points that deserve attention. After all, you are probably going to need both your own mode of transportation and a higher education. And your father's concern about how that's going to get paid for needs to be addressed.

Perhaps you should talk about those issues to him and show him how you're planning to make sure that your paintball expenditures aren't going to get in the way of getting a car or going to college?

[jaronervin]

tell him you'll get a full ride to college. Besides, most parents pay a little towards college, and you can get student loans for the rest. And for the car, well, payin another 2 or 3 hundred bucks on a gun most likely won't affect you buying a car too much. Plus, you need a job to get a car, and if you don't have one, you won't get a car, anyway. If you do have a job, you have a little money to spare. These are just arguments, by the way, I'm not saying you WONT get a car, it'll just take a little longer:| . Jay

[wwhooper]

Well, if you're a chubby couch potato like me, tell them you need the exercise. The if they suggest somethin else, tell them it's too dangerous, and take out one of those charts that say that paintball has even less injuries than golf.

[DeAd SoUlJa]

well i do save some money and put it into the bank and my dad takes care of the stock market.i can go to college for free since my mother works at the hospital near it.:D its funny though because my dad is like what is the main difference between a $50 marker and the one you have now? lets try quality

[jaronervin]

OK...exactly what are you trying to buy? I just got my parents to let me buy $400 worth of paintball stuff on their card! Unfortunately, I have to pay them back, but at least not right away:cool: . Jay

[giblit]

Originally posted by FrOnTMaN
if they say that its dangerous, then tell them that a study was done in 1988, and paintball was the lowest injury rate (under bowling!). and that in 1999 a study was done by the same group and it came out the same, yet the paintball injury rate went down 1/3. that'll tell em.
(btw its all true)

hey where did you get that information becuase everyone that says paintball is to dangerous im going to rub that in there face and say that paintball has less injeries then blowling percentage wise

*sorry about spelling, hooked on phonix didntwork for me

[ThaFiend]

well as far as finances go I only paintball once a month and I go every weekend in the summer, but I have a year round job.... there's better stuff to spend your money on than going paintballing every weekend for the whole year.... trust me.

[Crime Dog]

I'd have to agree with ThaFiend. We all love paintball here (well, except Seithman who is still trying to figure out why we love it so much. He thinks we're nuts by the way. Heh.) Ahem. Anyway... Someone mentioned something about "just taking out student loans." Let me caution...

DON'T TAKE THEM IF YOU CAN HELP IT!

I was blessed enough that my parents said, "If you get A's in your college classes, we'll pay for them." I got mostly A's. The classes I didn't earn A's in I paid for. Thankfully I had the money to do that. You're thinking, "Aw man, that stinks!" Nah...it didn't. Sure, I couldn't do as much as I wanted to as far as spending money on things I wanted during college, but, consider this:

I am 25 now, and my wife and I have NO debt. None. Zilch. Nada. I don't have to sweat each month trying to figure out where the money is going to come from to pay off any college loans. I paid my car off early due to the fact I saved as much as I could.

I realize not everyone's parents can do what mine did as far as paying for A's, but saving money, and working hard is important. And unfortunately, too many kids (well, people in general) just expect everything to be handed to them. Bunk. Work for it. I worked all through high school AND college. Granted, it was only part time, but gosh darn it, I earned that money, and I was going to use it wisely. And I'm glad I did... I have no debt to worry about now.

Just a tip on money handling. (I know, I know, I'm being a killjoy. ;) )

[Seithman]

It seems that CD is trying to get me into trouble! :laugh: ;)

Okay, I've heard people mention "quality" several times as the reason for needing to spend money on more expensive paintball equipment. Can I just say that that word means nothing to me? And I'm willing to bet that it means nothing to your dad, either.

You can say that "Walmart's markers aren't good enough" all you want. You can say that one you get online and modify is better. But that doesn't mean anything to a non-paintballer. You have to explain why it's better. And for goodness sakes, be specific? What's better about it? Distance? Accuracy? Reliability? And why does it matter? And don't just say "duh," because those of us who have never played probably don't know. We won't know until a patient paintballer takes the time to explain it to us.

[FrOnTMaN]

http://www.paint-ball.org/paintball_statistics.htm

that has the info. read it and scroll down to the bottom, and theres links to more info.

[UTLadiesMan]

Originally posted by giblit


hey where did you get that information becuase everyone that says paintball is to dangerous im going to rub that in there face and say that paintball has less injeries then blowling percentage wise

*sorry about spelling, hooked on phonix didntwork for me

Some good links in this thread:

http://www.pbreview.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35829&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

[DeAd SoUlJa]

these are some good links. next time someone says paintball is dangerous, show em this:laugh: :nod:

[UTLadiesMan]

Oh, and I made a typo in my original post. It's 1/4th less, not one third. But just the fact that it's significantly safer says a lot.

[anchorite]

umm... no, my parents are totally cool with paintball.
actually, my dad (age 50) is the left tape runner on my novice pan-am team. he shoots a pimped impulse (which I bought for him on his 50th birthday). my dad is weird though. he runs marathons and what not. he is one of the fastest players on the team, and can outrun most 14 year olds.
my mom supports paintball, she doesnt buy me stuff, but she occasionally comes watch me and my dad in tournaments, whenever I come home from college.
it is pretty easy once you are in college. just wait.
(most ballers I know cant get into college though. hahahaha)

[magicsly1]

Show your parents this site. click here (http://stacks.msnbc.com/local/wpmi/m43798.asp)

[carrim]

If you need money get a job at your local field. Money plus DISCOUNTS! They should also be able to get you equipment for a bit less. That's what I did anyway.

[DeAd SoUlJa]

i love those kind of sites. i like to show them to people who think paintball is dangerous. its kinda like a slap in their faces

[Pr0digy]

My mother is like many mothers, who don't mind the game, but does care how much it cost. I just talked to her and we decided a needed to create a budget/plan for my paintball spending. Then I agreed on the plan and bought a tribal (my second gun). Then for weekly play cost, I found a place that cost 12-15 bucks to play and split cases with my friends( this way you get fresh paint, and it is a whole lot cheaper per week). This way we are both happy and I get to play and keep my hobby.

[DeAd SoUlJa]

dont get me wrong, my dad will pay for the cheaper stuff like n2 and co2 fills but i just use his card to order paint and other stuff. he just doesnt see the point in spending all this money on paintball.

[Pr0digy]

Alot of parents don't understand, but you will have to face the fact that parents are wary of paintball and the cost. If you really like it you will find a way, but if you don't you should still play. Tell him that the kind of paint you have is the most important part of paintbal. Might as well get good paint if you can, otherwise it won't matter what you do on the field since you paint won't come out.