There's been a lot of talk in the last few years about how "stamp collecting is dying out", and how stamp clubs and stamp activities are "getting almost totally gray". There's some truth in this, but there are still a lot of new collectors, including a lot of young people, starting to collect stamps. Many will fall by the wayside; some will quit for awhile and pick it up later, when they have more leisure time, and some will continue to collect for the foreseeable future. One thing that can help determine which category a young collector will fall into is the assistance of school stamp clubs.
If you're the parent of a school-age child, does the school they attend have a school stamp club? Most don't. Most schools have cut back on extra-curricular activities because they require teacher supervision. There are always more activities than teachers to supervise them, so some activities get dropped. Stamp clubs, which appeal to only a small minority of children, are what get dropped the most. This is a shame, because stamp collecting is one of the best activities available to aid in teaching children about the world: history, geography, social studies, science and literature are frequent subjects of stamp designs.
Part of the problem with school stamp clubs is the lack of support from local collectors. Collectors need to be actively involved to see that school stamp clubs are created, that they are supported, and that they have a program that meets the needs of school-age children interested in stamp collecting. Most of the places where school stamp clubs do exist are places where one or more teachers are active stamp collectors, and pass on their interest to young children they teach. A quick search of the Internet, using the search parameters +"stamp collecting", +school +club (Search for all listings that contain the words "stamp collecting", plus "school", plus "club", and return all results that contain all three) listed more than 100 results, so there ARE resources out there, and many, many motivated teachers using stamp collecting in the classroom. Two of the best sites listed in these results were:
These were just the two best sites of several HUNDRED sites that were listed. They provide an excellent jumping-off point for further study, as each provides dozens of additional links to pursue. There are several hundred links on Joseph Luft's website that can provide much-needed information, also.
- Study Web
Information on how stamps can be used in a school or school club environment. Many collateral links to successful programs.
- Surf-Net Kids
United Features Syndicate page devoted to stamp collecting ideas for young people.
