Especially kids. I'd rather have kids scrambling all over the icicle hip-belaying each other in tennis shoes than not at all.
As if an organization charging $185 can't afford to have ATC's and pear biners to loan to their students.
No no no, go read the original post. They had proper belay devices (ATCs), they were just being taught the hip belay as a novelty backup option afterwards.
Also, the $185 figure people are throwing around comes from their website. It's a 2 1/2 day program including white water rafting. Not a bad deal.
Cool. I'm good with the hip belay backup as long as they clip into something.