Starting an After-School Computer Club?

Kai_MH asks: "When I moved up to my high school this year (I'm a Sophomore), I was surprised to find that there was no 'computer' or 'technology' club at the school. Sure, there's A/V, but what fun is carrying TV sets around? So, I'd like to approach my school's administration about starting an after-school computer club. I'd like to educate my peers on the alternatives to Windows (Linux and Open Source), how hardware works and fits together, job offerings in computer-related fields, and anything else that may be of interest. Perhaps we can do fund-raisers to build and upgrade a computer for the club, which could be donated to the school or community? Does anyone have suggestions on this? Has anyone tried this before? I've had a lot of support from my peers, but I'm still not quite sure how to go about it."

Comments

Do NOT mention or joke about 'hacking'

[dmuth]

Do NOT mention 'hacking', 'cracking', or anything like that, EVEN if you are joking!

Remember, older people on a whole know less about technology than younger people do. They may think you're serious and refuse to allow the club to be created. Worse yet, some control-freak of a teacher may try to use it as an excuse to shut the club down after it gets started.

On that note, that's another thing to watch out for: teachers who may have agenda of their own, or just be control-freaks, who don't want to see the students actually PLAYING with technology. And for God's sake, if you're going to do anything that you think your school might not be happy about, make sure you don't get caught. (Not that I did anything like that when I was in high school... :-)

Re:Not a good way to meet chicks..

[KshGoddess]

Sure they exist. But in general, they are an even bigger PITA to deal with than the so called normal ones.

Uh, yeah. Geek girls exist. Cute, slim geek girls exist. Just because you've not found one, doesn't mean that they don't exist.

Oddly enough, I *am* a geek girl, and I would say that I'm less of a pain in the ass than my non-geek counterparts. I'm low-maintenance, and don't ask the stupid "What are you thinking?", "Would you still love me if I had no arms?" questions.

• Want to go out?
  • Sure. *throws on Jeans and a T-shirt* versus 1/2 hour choosing clothes, putting on makeup, styling hair, and whatever else girly-girls do.
• Want to see [action movie]?
  • Sure. Let's go! versus negotiating about how many chick flicks/visits with my mother/Lifetime movie of the week/etc. are required to offset it, plus the aforementioned pain in the ass of waiting for the primping.

My husband never has to explain why he wants to upgrade [piece of hardware|OS] or why he wants [software|game|hardware|whatever]. I never have to explain why I want to do X instead of Y, or what I do for a living. Both of us drool over the latest hardware. It's nicer than dating a non-geek. It's super-easy to get along with someone who's got many of the same interests. [In our case, computers, crafts, and action, drama, and sci-fi movies, along with some anime.]