Honestly, I think that if someone wants to pay for the class, they should be just as entitled as the next person to take it. And the desire to learn more about safety, even if just for a person's own children, or children of friends and family, in my opinion, does not fall into the "for no good reason" category... If one life is saved because I took the class, it's worth it to me.
((A piece of paper isn't my only motivation... I hear you also get discounts on carseats...
))
Seriously though, I've pretty much known everything since I was 14. Just ask my dad
... I'd just like to have the credentials to back me up when I run my mouth, which I do quite frequently.
And when I said I don't have time for carseat checks, I guess I should clarify... I don't have time to sit all day at a carseat check event. I would be perfectly willing to do checks by appointment as my schedule allows and for friends and family. I work 2 full time jobs and also am a volunteer with a carseat recycling program in my city. People who go out of their way to recycle carseats are usually pretty receptive to information, and it would be nice to be able to tell them I'm a tech when I'm answering their questions...
Everyone I know already comes to me with their carseat questions - my obsession is no secret. And I do my best to answer them, but there are resources I know would be more easily accessible to me if I was certified. And I'd like to know I'm giving out the best and most accurate information. I know the people I talk to aren't going to go out of their way to find a tech. I install carseats for everyone I know, and I always have to tell them that they should still have it checked by a tech, because I'm not one... I know they don't and so I'd feel more comfortable if I was one.
OK I'm afraid I didn't really explain what I meant very well. I was typing in the car, waiting for one kid, while another kid played Hot Cross Buns on a recorder in the back seat and a third kid bounced a ball off the back of my seat. Very distracting.
What I was trying to say is that
1. the class costs more than $100 dollars per participant when it is all said and done. $60 goes just to the pay for registering your participation with Safe Kids. Then there is the costs for the student manuals, handouts, equipment, facility costs, usually lunches, and the time for the instructors. Some open classes pass the entire cost on to the students, and those classes charge way more than $100. For the class to only cost $100, there is a sponsoring agency involved. Reciprocity is expected in the form of participating in events for said agency. Many agencies will not even offer spots to people outside their organization because they would rather give the spot to (and spend their money on) people they know will be there to help with events. Those that do open classes are trusting that the favor of sponsoring you will be returned in the form of a few hours of your time a couple days a year.
2. The tone of your post made it seem like you viewed getting certified as joining a club or something. You didn't mention you wanted to know about car seats to help family and friends, just that you wanted to do it just because you could.
3. Newly certified techs really should do several checks with a team before they branch out on their own. You can know a ton about using car seats, but working with an experienced tech teaches you the skills you need to be able to effectively change the habits of the people who you are helping, and also teaches you how to protect yourself from liability. The technical knowledge you will get from the class is only about 20% of what makes a good tech. The other 80% only comes from experience.
4. When I said reconsider, I meant reconsider what roll you were willing to play and how you were going to use the skills, not reconsider taking the class at all.
I really am not trying to be rude. I'm actually telling you the same exact message that was given to me when I became certified in 1998. I was blessed to have instructors that literally helped make the program. They all sat down and told us about a child they had "lost". The one they didn't help quite enough, and who died because of something they didn't say, or a question they didn't ask. It was right before we took the final test. One of the instructors said something I'll never ever forget. It helped make me a good tech. Her lost child was her son's best friend. She dropped him off at his Aunt's house, and wondered if he would need a car seat, but didn't want to seem rude, so she didn't ask.
She said: if you do this, it's serious. It's not just about saving a life. Someday a child is going to die, and you are going to spend the rest of your life wondering if you did enough. You are going to question every move, and every word and the only way to live with it is to know absolutely that you did the best you could possibly do. Make sure it's worth it to you.
As you can see, I did become a tech. I believe in what I'm doing, that it is worth any pain that I may have to deal with. I worry about techs who are not prepared for, or even aware of the very real possibility that they may have to one day attend the funeral of a child that doesn't survive a crash. You need to be aware of the stakes.
I hope you take all this (now that I've explained it the way I meant to) in the spirit that I'm giving it in. I hope you do decide that you want to be a tech. But please go into it with your whole heart.