Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Hey Chief Delphi,

I would have preferred to avoid making this post altogether, and honestly I'm quite terrified to, but we're pretty desperate - we need advice from the FIRST community on handling my current situation. This does get quite lengthy as I have much to say, and I really would appreciate if it was read entirely though, but for anyone who would rather I skip straight to the point:

tldr; A number of problems exist on our team as the result of the control that one “inner circle” of people holds over the team. People in this inner circle get special treatment and act disrespectful towards other students, knowing that there will be no repercussion because of their parents’ heavy involvement as authority figures. Students who speak out against the clear favoritism only get accused of starting trouble. Nepotism always plays a role in deciding who gets leadership roles on the team; kids who aren’t “favorites” or friends of the favorites are overlooked regardless of skill or competency. Everyone is sick of it but feels helpless to do anything about it. Help.

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You may have noticed I'm not affiliated with a specific team or state; I'm only doing so as to preserve my anonymity as much as possible to prevent backlash from my team. Any situations I describe will be vague enough to not determine my team affiliation, but specific enough to voice my (and many team members) concerns. I can say I'm a veteran engineer on my team who's been actively involved each build season. This post was physically written by only one person, but is a collaboration of over a dozen team members voicing their concerns. This is going to be a long post, and perhaps this isn't the place for it - let me know.

FIRST is an amazing community. As a freshman, I truly saw it as a foundation dedicated to giving everyone an equal jump-start in the engineering field. As someone in a lower-class, single parent family, this concept was literally life saving. It was amazing. It didn't matter where I was from- I was treated based on the content of my character and had just as much confidence placed in me as those from trade schools that lived much more comfortably. My social skills skyrocketed, my love for strategy grew, and I strived in kinesthetic learning.

On the largest scale, this fantastic atmosphere has remained strong in the FIRST community. In recent years, unfortunately, I have noticed a shift in attitude on my team since specific members have joined - one that affects (almost) everyone negatively.

In recent years, wealthier families have become more influential in many decisions that should be mentor and student driven, and I feel this has unbalanced the equality of this team. It has nothing to do with race or gender, but rather financial stability and “social status”. To put it simply, my team is quite painfully structured by nepotism. Children of influential parents or related to mentors - regardless of skill - do not have to meet any travel qualifications, including fundraising $ and grade requirements, while other students must maintain strict grade averages and fundraising in order to compete. Unfortunately, this is very hush-hush and most rookies are unaware of this. Everyday treatment is also drastically different towards these “elite” students and their friends as opposed to the average team member - 95% of which I’m very proud to say are brilliant, hard-working people.

I've spoken to many of my team members - more than 30, actually - who agree with my standpoint and can cite many examples of skewed judgement by team mentors due to the phantom elevated status of ones often accused of wrongdoings. Unfortunately, they're all absolutely terrified of being picked out and practically bullied to quit if they speak out, no matter what proof they have. If students directly approach a lead mentor with a concern involving unfair treatment, they can be sure it will not be held in confidence and while mentors will treat them differently - negatively - life on the team continues as it did because "there's no war in Ba Sing Sae" and the problems are not made known to the majority of the team. Small groups of students have banded together and spoken out about:

-mentor involvement (mentors ignoring student’s ideas, telling them they’re wrong without explanation, and being quite negative and controlling over students)
- these “elite” student team members being openly disrespectful towards multiple team subgroups because they personally dislike some members, regardless of their competence

The response to both problems was the promise of a reprimand - to no avail. In fact, the behavior became worse and more detrimental towards students. This has resulted in many members internalizing their problems and becoming afraid and distrusting of mentors, which honestly damages their mental health over time.

“On a FIRST team, a mentor’s goal should be to actively share his/her knowledge and experiences with the team to help foster intellectual growth. Provide students with opportunities to make choices, both good and bad.” (FIRST Mentoring Guide) On our team, students are rarely allowed to voice opinions or make independent choices, and are essentially taught that unless they are seen as “special” their opinion won’t matter.


Because I don’t want to write you a novel, here’s a list compiled by multiple team members of problematic events that occur often/have occured on my team and have been complained about with no repercussions to the offenders:

- “favorite” students blatantly bullying and belittling other members publicly on social media about their private, personal problems
- to earn a spot on the drive team or in other competition leadership positions, prospective students must go through an interview process. Unfortunately, some of the interviewers are directly related to students who interview for these positions, and these students are automatically selected regardless of skill (obvious conflict of interest)
-a student (not me) emailed our lead mentor specifically about their concern with mentor over-involvement. They stated multiple times that they were in no way attempting be disrespectful, and were truly concerned. The mentor read the email and promptly ignored it.
- allowance of “favorite” male + female team members to display extreme PDA and go MIA together at events, while reprimanding a homosexual couple on the team for even speaking to each other too often - even if conversation was clearly strategic or game-related.
- choosing a friend of favored team members over a seasoned, experienced veteran for drive team, though the unfavored was clearly superior in skill and ability.
- mentor refusing to address another mentor’s inappropriate conduct (negative attitude towards students) due to direct relation
- influential parents being allowed to openly gossip about team members
- a team member being told by a favored student that they were not allowed to travel due to being a “liability to the team” simply because they were diagnosed with depression.
- mentors disregarding student complaints about team leaders because of their personal relations to the leader, and instead accusing the concerned student(s) of only trying to start trouble.
- mentors physically working on the robot with favored students after meetings and making decisions without consulting the rest of the team.
- mentors purposely delaying student requests to order certain robot components because they personally disagree with design ideas
-students are repeatedly told to respect mentors when vice versa is rarely applicable.
- genuine, respectful feedback from involved veteran members is taken as disrespectful by mentors with no logical explanation other than disagreement.
- if a student is bold enough to speak out in front of the entire team (often berated as “attention-seeking”) the problem is fixed only temporarily and mentor behavior becomes significantly more negative and passive-aggressive towards that student.

- absolutely none of the above applies to favored students. Their opinions are always respected, regardless of their behavior towards others. Any negative accusations made by favored students about other team members, regarding behavior for example, are presumed true and immediately acted upon regardless of the fact that there’s often no evidence of these supposed wrongdoings. They are literally guilty until proven innocent based solely on the word of these favorite students.

Note: not to say that unfavored students are perfectly behaved; there are some genuine instances of students misbehaving. Rather, the point being made is that if an average student so much as says “no” to certain mentors or favored students on a bad day, there’s hell to pay.

Finally, here is my question: For the love of God, what are we supposed to do?! I care about many of my team members deeply, and have dedicated much of my time to FRC. I am tired of participating on a team where the huge majority of veteran members speak often of quitting due to their frustration in being belittled. I’m unwilling to let such members erode the amazing concept that FIRST is and ruin it for many of my friends, most of which know that a team is not supposed to be led this way, and FIRST is about equal opportunity and growth. I also don’t want to be part of a team that causes severe stress and anxiety simply because of who I, or any of my team members are as individuals. I have a desperate hope that this is truly not what FIRST is about, and that 30+ of my team members and I are not overreacting as we are often told.


Please, if you have any advice or suggestions about what steps we could take to amend this ugly situation, we would love to hear it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and any replies (public or private) are hugely appreciated.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Do you have written, audio, or video evidence of said nepotism? I know you said that the "favored" students engage in bullying on social media (which you should record as screenshots, of course), but having evidence against adult mentors would be better in every situation, because they are supposed to be accountable for their own actions.

Re:
 

Currently we have no audio/video evidence, but many screenshots on multiple students' devices of only a few isolated incidents of many. It's such a frequent occurence that we should probably be prepared to document it at this point, but honestly most students are cowed by their fear. Ex. On one case when an argument was presented with solid evidence, mentors have completely turned a blind eye with no regret because of the power certain parents (and inherently their children) had.

Thank you for responding!

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

If you are on a school sponsored team, approach the principal and administrators about the events. That should hopefully resolve the conflict.

If you are not on a school sponsored team, my only advice is that you should gather everyone that supports your stance and approach the lead mentor as a group. They are the one that is responsible for the entire team's actions. If this does not work, the only thing that could stop this from reoccurring would be to contact FIRST. It is supposed to be fun and lead people to wanting to get involved in STEM fields, not push them away because some people have to ruin it.

Honestly, the adults on your team are the most shameful because they are supposed to be the ones that guide you in situations relating, not only to robotics related events, but also tough life situations. I can only hope that not every adult is so immature to let people get away with bullying. I wish you the best of luck to getting your unfortunate predicament resolved.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I have considered this, and have many a draft waiting to be sent, but to be honest I have no idea who I would contact or what could actually be done. The fear of the unknown is what's stopping me or anyone else from jumping off that ledge. We don't want to destroy the team we have; we just want help. Things weren't always like this, and we're just desperately trying to revert back to how things were before this tirade began. Thank you so much for replying.

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There are states where recording people without two party consent is committing a felony. I would not recommend doing that at all.

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Anything posted on a social media website not made explicitly private is public information.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

"Currently we have no audio/video evidence ... " -- I was focusing on currently. As in not yet but maybe we could obtain.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

This was more to specify we had not done so. We are aware this is probably not legal, and definitely don't want to tread there. We only have screenshots of social media. Thanks!

Re:
 

As long as it is not in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, or Washington, you are able to do so with at least one (you or the recorders) permission. These twelve need both parties consent, and i would not recommend in those twelve, and i would be reluctant to do so even if i wasn't in those states, but if this is true (and i am not doubting this at all, please do not take it like that) then recording if you can may be a good idea.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Unfortunately, these types of complaints are common in organizations. Usually, it is a result of poor choices/communication rather than outright corruption. Also the truth is usually somewhere in the between both parties; once all the information is presented to all parties, the miscommunication is readily apparent.

When Parents are also mentors, they must make extraordinary effort to avoid even the perception of nepotism or favoritism. Because, perception is reality to everyone that thinks it.

If the situation is as bad as you say, there must be someone that you can take this too. As others have stated, your team probably has a sponsoring organization, (School, Community Club, etc); put your complaints and evidence together and present them to the administrators.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Write FIRST and give them details of some serious allegations, and just mention the rest. If possible, have a Mentor co-sign the letter.

FIRST
200 Bedford St.
Manchester, NH 03101

I don't know if, and what, they can do. But, at least it is on record.

If you have 30 kids that feel that way, you have enough students to start another team. If you can find a few mentors to go with you ...

Life isn't fair. But at FIRST, Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition is intended for the students to learn to enthusiastically be fair. Sometimes though, you just have to learn how to make the best of a bad situation. Kind of like being half way through build season and realizing you don't have a great design.

Play the cards you are dealt, have fun doing it, and learn along the way. That is Gracious Professionalism.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Without any evidence, its difficult to get anyone to act. The only method I feel would do you any good would be to get that 30 some students to request that the principal to come for a meeting and have an open forum at that specific meeting with everyone attending and all eyes and minds open. It might shine some light upon the situations, present your emails and then the real actions taken by those mentors and any other pieces so as to prove your point and allow for a fair accuasation and trial so to speak. What you do not want to do, is to create a divide between the team and cause the whole thing to poop bricks...

I know that you feel in a box and nothing will work but no matter what, it will end in at least a year. Move away and join a better team in the future.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Thanks for the address and suggestions. Unfortunately, we only have two full-time mentors and both are against reform. We also love our team very much and don't want to just walk away from what we've worked towards.

(in reply to Fusion_Clint): After direction discussion with those involved, we can say in confidence that there is no misconception about the favoritism, as much as we wish it was.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I can't help as far as advice beyond the current suggestions, but I'm here to vent to whenever. I really hope this gets fixed up soon.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Just be aware that whatever you decide to do right now, it likely won't get the attention it deserves with everyone focused on getting the robot done and getting ready for the competitions. Plus, the final few days of build season are stressful and, with that stress, people would react differently than they normally do.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Thanks Shrub! That really means a lot and is appreciated :)

This is very true, and yet another reason why I (the writer) am beating myself up for waiting so long to take action! It really does feel like we're in a box.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

We make it very clear at the beginning of every season that parents who come to help and mentor are here to help the team and not just to help their own kids. They also have no input into the process of selecting student for leadership roles or any type of roles. They also must steer clear of any disciplining process involving their own kids.

We make it very clear on the team that we don't want this type of problem - let alone the perception of favoritism... Not only does it not do the team any justice - it destroys any type of leadership support the student leaders have when it is perceived that they are somehow favorites - or were not selected to lead completely due to merit.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

First, I would suggest that you sit down and categorize all your concerns:
1) Concerns that are clear violations of school rules or the law. (i.e. bullying, harassment)
2) Concerns that are clear favoritism.
3) Concerns that are simply poor management.
4) Concerns that you might be misreading - easy to do if you are already upset about other issues.

Disregard Category 4 completely. The last thing you want is to be seen as "overly-emotional" or "looking for trouble."

#3: These you can't do much about either - One of three things is true: There could be a simple lack of man-power among your mentors to do things well; There could be incompetence at the top; You, as a student, are misreading the situation.

#2: This is tough. Favoritism is very hard to prove and determining who is "best" for a job is often very subjective. The best way to avoid this is to have a decision-maker who is not emotionally attached to a decision as to which student should get which job. The minute parents are involved in decisions about their own child, difficulties arise: Even if the particular child is the best for the job, there are always going to be questions. Many folks believe that if a parent is very involved in a club, that their child should get the "nod" if everything else is equal. Making accusations of favoritism often comes across as "sour grapes." One way to approach this would be to have the "unchosen" student/s go to the "decision-maker" with a question like this: "I know that I didn't make the cut this year, but I want another shot next year. Where to I need to improve my game in order to have a better chance?" This can not only lead to a good, friendly conversation, but will quietly "force" the decision-maker to reflect on the situation. The key is to not be accusatory - rather show maturity, a little bit of disappointment and the desire to do better.

#1 If the person running the club is a teacher, this needs to be reported to the teacher. If not, it needs to go to the school administration. Such behaviors have no place in any school organization and must be stopped at a level above the FRC team. If an adult is the problem, that adult may need to be removed from the team.

Overall, you need to tread lightly, keep your integrity and maintain Gracious Professionalism at all times. Assume the best possible motives for each person involved.... If you do this, then, at the end of the season, once the stress of the build and competition season have ended, talk to the mentor/teacher who runs the team about your personal concerns - bring the other 30 concerned students, too.

I wish I could say that what you describe is uncommon in youth organizations, but it is not. Parents often want their kids to be "the star" and often don't see other students' needs. Money often means power... Etc. Keep your head up and your attitude positive. Good luck.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Instead of contacting FIRST HQ, reach out to your Sr. Mentor. If you do not have one, then your Regional Director.

http://www.usfirst.org/regional-contacts

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Write your concerns, stating specific examples, in a letter. Have a large portion of your team sign the letter. Send it to both your mentors and your school administration.

Present any examples of individuals bullying separately, with evidence, to your school administration.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

@green-paint - Having seen some of these issues in and out of FIRST organizations, I can certainly understand the frustrations you suffer over this. It is apparent that you have tormented yourself with grief over how to deal with the perceived situation.

Please allow me to ask a few questions from the perspective of a devil's advocate, as most issues like these are complex and take a lot of time and interactions to develop. Since you are upset that you waited so long to attempt to address the issues, could it be that there was a breaking point event that moved you to post here? My sense is that the nepotism is perceived because you or someone else not related to a mentor was slighted.

The general theme of your post is that you and other members of your team feel excluded. A good portion of your list involve technical exclusions. Were the responses you got from mentors a terse "No", or were they more along the lines of "show me a working proof of concept, by the end of today", followed by a "No" a few days later when the proof of concept was never produced?

Does your team have a mechanism for your members to log time spent in service to the team? If so, is there any qualitative assessment of the time spent?

Do you have a lot of team members who are "present" but not actually doing anything productive? Do they feel that their time hanging out entitles them to a spot on the drive team?

Have team members adopted an informal seniority system, where they perceive longevity as more important than actual contributions?

On the couples who were treated differently, good or bad; are there other members of the team who are obsessed with any of the individuals who were coupled with someone else?

Do the mentors have a guiding philosophy for the team, and does everyone on the team know what it is? Do you agree with it?

I would ask if you were in California, as one of your points was that certain members were not being required to meet a fundraising requirement. In California, teams attached to public schools (conventional or charter) cannot require any students to meet any financial goal, and must provide for their participation at events. Grades are a different story, but fundraising cannot be a factor. As you want to keep generic, I will only offer this information for FIRST teams in California who read this. Other states may have similar laws.

I don't know how you would answer any of these questions, but when the same questions were asked about similar situations on my team in the past, the answers were more revealing about the complaining parties than the perceived favorites.

My point is that you really need to filter your complaints to see if there is an actionable problem. Quite often when you are close to this type of situation, your emotions damage your ability to see straight and to be truly objective. Sometimes, people with sympathetic ears are manipulated by others into becoming the champions of unjust causes. Sometimes, those who appear to be benefiting from nepotism, really have put in the productive time when compared to those who feel slighted. Be careful.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Personally, I would gather every single 'unfavored' member of the team and go up to the 'favored' members and straight up tell them, as a group, that you are going on strike. Don't do ANYTHING related to robotics. Tell the favored members that if they want to continue working on the robot and go to competition, they are by all means welcome to, but they can't expect any help from the unfavored members until the favored members agree to respect the unfavored more. Make a written contract if necessary and force every single favored member/parent/mentor sign it, with the threat of being forced off the team if they break the contract. If this ends up failing (and I except it will at some point), form a new team with the unfavored members. Have all of them officially leave to old team and form an entirely new team. Work in a mentor's garage if you have to. Just don't give the favored members anybody to disrespect or belittle.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Please don't do this.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I'm pretty sure that worked before with another team in the FAHA. Don't quote me on that though.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I agree.

While I can see why you'd want to do this, it most certainly won't help, and will probably make the situation worse.


Instead, what I would propose--assuming that all the other stuff is as described AND assuming that the various strategies already proposed don't have some effect--would be to, as a group (or as individuals), announce after competition that "this group of people (or individuals) will no longer be part of this FRC team". Nothing more.

After which, of course, anybody who wants to and can manage to wrangle it will be more than welcome to start a new team or (hopefully) join another team in the area. Or, if the problematic folks happen to change their ways, rejoin the team.

Edit: The team in the FAHA might have been a suggestion from myself--I think I've suggested that once or twice--but it's generally not a good idea. I would reserve that tactic only for a very-last-resort, nothing-else-has-worked-and-this-probably-won't-either. I've never used it at all.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Remember Gracious Professionalism?

It is very hard, requiring suppression of negative emotions. Going on strike is neither gracious nor professional.

It is like trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. Innocent bystanders will be put in awkward situations trying to triage the burn victims.

Sorry for the imagery. It was the best analogy I could come up with.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

First of all there are a couple of incidences mentioned that if true are more than serious. For example the homosexual couple being slighted on the team for being homosexual. This is unacceptable in any organization that I have been a part of and is inherently against the principles that this country and first was founded upon which was to give all people an equal opportunity to learn about STEM careers and get actively involved. Whether its your school administration, or if your outside of a school district then the regional director, whoever the team mentors are accountable to need to hear directly from multiple students with these complaints. Make them hear your voice. These mentors must answer to someone outside of themselves and that's who you need to go to. I get having parents of students on the team can be challenging, but what needs to happen at that point is any decisions that affect student leadership or drive team where their kid is in direct competition, then the parents must be forced to step back and abstain from the decision making process.

I wouldn't recommend splitting off and making your own team, that would hurt the situation more than it would help.

I don't think that this issue can be solved by looking at it from the other side. I know it may be hard but you need to as a group tell these mentors, as respectfully as possible, No. When they tell you no and don't give a reason tell them that is not a good enough answer, ask them to explain the reasoning. If their not willing to do that, then maybe its time for them to revalue their involvement with the team, and FIRST as an organization.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Wow, I can say that your situation does sound pretty difficult, and depending on a few things, you've already gotten a number of really good suggestions.

When I was a Junior on my team, I had a somewhat similar issue. Our team wasn't very large and I was the chief engineer, but the teacher sponsor for our school had it out for me. The teacher bullied me and tried to make things difficult, it didn't help that I had him for an actual class during school as well. I also had my dad on the team as a mentor, but he was good about not showing favoritism (we also had been volunteering at regionals before I was even on a team). By the end of FIRST season we had found out that the teacher got the pink slip and wouldn't be working at our school the next year. This was because we had brought up his actions to our principal, who liked the robotics team even if he didn't understand much about it.

So, like others have said, I suggest going to your principal with your evidence, if your team isn't school based, try to contact a local FIRST rep.

If you happen to be a Georgia team, you can PM me and I can help to put you in contact with our regional director or other people. Also if you're in Georgia and end up taking the route of splitting off to form a new team(last resort), I know some people who would love to mentor and help you out. :)

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

What is your fund raising situation? Are some of these people who are being bullied those who provided money for the team? That would be a grim reminder if you lost a lot of funding because of behavior.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

You do not deserve to be treated so horribly, but it will continue as long as you allow it to happen. There are two options I see at the moment:

(1) If you are officially affiliated with a school system there are likely options you may pursue with regards to bullying, harassment, and discrimination. This will (painfully) excise some of the offending parties from your team and hopefully reduce nepotism. However, it will not correct the underlying attitude issue unless all offending people are removed and/or have a serious attitude adjustment.

(2) Split off and start your own team. It sounds drastic, but the environment you describe is unprofessional, frustrating, degrading, disrespectful, and generally unacceptable. If a new team is started you have the opportunity to recruit students and mentors who share a cohesive vision and attitude and you can establish protocols that eliminate or reduce nepotism.

Honestly, in your position, I would go with #2. A clean slate is the easiest way to form the team that you want with the ideal you wish to represent. It will likely be easy to convince those not in the inner circle to leave, while it will be VERY difficult to remove those already in the inner circle. It will be hard work, but it is possible, and probably the healthiest thing for you to do. My greatest fear would be that there would always be remnants of nepotism unless you split into two teams.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Even if you are not affiliated with a school, there are options to take regarding discrimination.

The FIRST Youth Protection Program (YPP) is run by the Youth Protection Department in Manchester. If you have documented issues of discrimination or other improper things against students, this may be the best path to take through FIRST.

The website for the YPP is here:
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/youth-protection-program

I am so sorry that your team is having to go through this. I wish you best of luck.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I am not sure how things are in your area but in Michigan you don't have to go very far to find another team. Our team is made up of kids from several different schools in the area, a few of them even have their own teams.

Find another team that could use your help, think of it as outreach or just moving to another team. I guarantee there are newer teams out there that would love to have the help of someone that has been on a bigger team. It might take more effort than just going to your meeting at the school you are already attending, but you may find it is worth it.

If a large number of students are leaving to join other teams, they might get the hint that there is something wrong with the way they are operating the team.

Either way, good luck. Just remember that your time in FIRST is limited, make the most of it you can.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I know how you feel here, my team was actually partially shut down by the administration over the summer due to similar problems.

We had mentors harassing some of the kids to begin with, and nobody was sure what to do about that.

Then, we we were electing leaders of the team, an inner circle formed to rig these elections. The school administration was tipped off and all meetings were cancelled.

I and some other members got together and restructured the team in an attempt to eliminate these problems. We managed to do recruiting and continue our important outreach! So far, the new structure has worked, and we are enjoying what may be our best season yet.


You guys need to go to school officials with this, and also contact that organization within first previously mentioned that deals with this. Don't put up with nepotism, it benefits no one.



If you need anyone to talk to, feel free to message me. I know how you feel, and I would love to do anything I could to help.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

This makes me so mad.
The fact that this kind of thread even needs to exist makes me lose confidence in humanity. FIRST is supposed to be an organization where kids can learn about technology in a friendly environment.
My advice:
There are multiple things you can do. In many states, there are strong anti-bullying laws that call for intense investigation at even the slightest hint of bullying.I don't know what state you're in, but do some research. If you can, file a report to the school. In many states, the police may get involved, and the people you accuse of bullying will be investigated. This will serve as a huge deterrent for future potential bullies.
If you have video evidence, make it public on social media; try to get attention elsewhere. If you get enough attention to the cause, you can find more advice. And as it was said earlier, once you post the videos they're public; you can use them as evidence in bullying investigations.
If all else fails, go for the throat. (Not literally. Please don't actually kill anyone). What I mean is report all this to the administration. If they disband the team, then start a new team somewhere else. But request that they simply reassign the team to a new teacher who will clean it up, rather than disbanding it.
Just remember: NEVER GIVE UP. Try EVERYTHING and then try it again. Something is bound to work.
NOTE: THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION, AND I AM ENTITLED TO IT. YOU CAN FOLLOW THIS ADVICE OR COMPLETELY DISREGARD IT.
Also, I am also open to be PM'd about this. I want to help as much as I can.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I would not do this. Not on social media.

As a middle-to-late resort, the local news stations would be a much better option, ONLY if the administration wasn't doing anything. Then you get LOCAL pressure, AKA the folks that elect school boards, pack school board meetings, pay the salaries of school administration and teachers... If it's major of a deal enough, it'll make it out there for the rest of the world to see.

But once it's on social media, only the entire world can see that X, Y, and Z are "making life difficult" for you guys. While that does get some attention, it'll be split into "huh?", "I should care because?", "whiners", and "Oh, we need to do something", and most of the folks out there aren't going to be anywhere near in range to do anything. Other than by petition that will likely be ignored, that is.

Also, the odds of there actually being video evidence--that can actually work--are very slim by the very nature of the issue.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Now that I think about it, you might be right. But the most important line of my post wasn't intended to be that advice, that was just one idea. The main idea of "Don't give up" still stands.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Scanning through this thread, I haven't noticed anyone asking the students what they want to get from being a member of this team.

Once you answer that, and then ask yourselves how many other ways exist to accomplish the same goals (despite the fact that plenty of people drink the Kool-aid, FIRST is definitely not the only way to enjoy STEM activities or robotics activities), I'll hope that you suddenly realize that the folks you feel trapped by, actually have NO hold over you.

You can find sources of STEM inspiration without them. You can form STEM robotics or software teams, and enjoy excelling without them.

You can form a school club, a 4H club, a neighborhood club, a Scouting Venture group, a Church group, a whatever, completely without needing permission, participation, or support from those other students or adults.

Once you become comfortable with those notions, and you have realized that you aren't trapped - that there are no chains on you - then I suggest you decide what you want to do next.

Life is too short to spend it in a miserable he-said, she-said, die-in-the-ditch fight over demanding respect from anyone whose respect you don't need.

So be gracious, be professional, be confident, be effective and be inspired. Accomplish your goals without painting yourself into imaginary boxes. Pay the price of success in honest effort, and live well.

If doing the above includes improving the internal processes of the FIRST team you are supporting right now, do it for the right reasons, do it quietly, use advice from mature and respected leaders within your community, and do it as a form of paying forward, not to punish anyone.

Blake

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Look I hate to say this but:

Let me assure you what you are experiencing is disturbingly similar to things you will encounter in the real world and it has nothing to do with STEM careers per se:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/24/living...-workplace-cb/

If you want to see your company fail: start by letting cliques form.
It's the fastest way for things to become about politics and games rather than the weighing the merits.
Shortly there after the customers will realize that merit is not the goal.
Shortly after that if the company doesn't disband it will disintegrate.

The thing about FIRST is that as a student you can only do it for so long.
Disintegration of the team as you know it is inevitable because of graduation.

My advice is that you have to decide what you get out of FIRST as you experience it.
Are you learning skills? If you are, could you learn them another way?
Is the issue that you feel like you won't win? Is that really the most important thing to you?
Is the issue that you feel unappreciated? If so can you do what you care about another way?

I've gone down the road many times and it's never a good road to travel.
'Outing' them is not going to address anything.
Confronting them is unlikely to address anything.
If this is really entrenched as you say - time to put aside the frustration and get back to the basics: what can you get out of STEM and how can you grow that.

Own your future, or let me assure you, others will try to own it.
Sometimes this means you have to tolerate nonsense for a while.
This is the reason why I basically don't care if my team wins the actual competition:
My goal is to produce opportunity via STEM - not to make people think that wining a competition is anything like real life.
I don't get trophies and loud music in real life - maybe a nice dinner or a bonus.
Even if we fail - miserably - I hope the students enjoyed working with the tools and learned about the process.
Even our worst years have produced students that go on to do great because you can learn from failure.

So stop and remember this is not life and death. The sun will rise tomorrow.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Sorry, but this is some of the worst advice I've seen in a long time. Verbal abuse, homophobic behavior by mentors, and excluding depressed students goes far beyond "nonsense". Something needs to be done, if not for OP then for the other students on a team. No one ever said that he's worrying about winning or "feeling appreciated".

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

You can feel free to disagree.
However the issue I have is this: a lack of evidence.

An anonymous person posting on a public forum with serious accusations.
How level headed is it - that something must be done?

If these accusations are hasty how would you undo the harm that this accusation creates?

Also clearly if the issue was not feeling appreciated then why does it matter - at all - if a group of people hijack the robot after someone leaves and make changes without discussing it?
In almost 2 decades I've been out sick and changes were made to parts I was working on that I wasn't always comfortable with but sometimes that's just how it is.

To quote the original post:
Oh and let me clarify: I have seen students make serious accusations against people that were quite clearly innocent out of misplaced feelings. Much more serious accusations than this. It's not pretty.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

That is true. However, I ask you this: What evidence do you have that there are no issues?

I remind you that most places have laws/rules/regulations/policies against the behavior that is described--if someone goes to the appropriate party and says "Hey, such-and-such is happening", then the appropriate party is required to investigate and take appropriate action--which may in fact be "we have no evidence", or it may be more severe. (And it's entirely possible that the action taken isn't appropriate at all but that's a debate for another time.)

Are you assuming that that ("feeling appreciated") is the issue? I don't get that anywhere in the initial post. That "hijacking" as you put it is clearly a sign that either someone doesn't understand the decision structure, or someone else has chosen to ignore the decision structure. Pick one.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I agree I don't have evidence to cause me to act.
I also can't guarantee that there's nothing wrong there.
However as you say there are rules - often rules well displayed for detecting and addressing negative behavior like this.

So the questions that beg to be asked then are:

1. Do they not know about these rules?
Perhaps that is an issue FIRST should consider on a larger scale because it will be lost in the flow of this topic.

2. Does the school not publish these rules? As you say many are local law and require publication and in some cases even interactive education. So why take the grievance here instead of down that path?

It's certainly not the entire issue but I take away from it that it's there.
Generally grievances like this are rarely just this one aspect but add this to the great big kettle and stir and sooner or later the mixture can be volatile.
Someone gets bullied and sooner or later it starts attacking their self-worth.
The thing is that you can tread near being a bully, and to a person that is often more seriously bullied it can be a serious blow and their reaction could have reasons but be misdirected.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I feel like, in a situation like this, the worst thing to do is nothing.

Assuming nothing is done, then the situation will fall to something I like to call "Moral Entropy." Which is, in a sense, the law that states that anything when left to itself will get worse.
Basically this means that if we sit here and argue over whether or not there is enough evidence to warrant an investigation, the corruption will get worse and eventually destroy the team in question.
Always consider the worst case scenario, then go with the course of action whose worst possible consequences are less severe.
Assume the OP is making this up and just trying to get someone in trouble. Then an investigation happens, a little inconvenience for the person in question, then they are acquitted and life goes on.
Now assume the OP is telling the truth (which I think he/she is). Then assume no investigation happens. The team remains corrupt and nothing is solved; students remain miserable. Much worse, I think.
And also: the OP asked mainly for advice. Why would they ask falsely for advice, that they would never use, if it gave them no benefit? Doesn't make sense to me.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Folks,

Let's refer the OP to the mature, level-headed, and respected leaders that surely exist in their own community, and then let those people use their boots on the ground to improve any bad situations.

Does that sound wiser than speculating in a forum thread?

Separately let's remind the OP that they don't have to spend time in a toxic environment in order to fed their STEM-inspiration appetites, unless for some reason they want to spend time in it. There are plenty of excellent alternatives, and the choice is entirely theirs (them and their family) to make, not someone else's.

Blake

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

Anyone that has ever had to spend the time and money to sort out a legal issue knows that such matters are not free. Not free for the plaintiff(s) or the defendant(s). You might be 'made whole' in a monetary sense but you can't really replace the lost time, opportunity and relationships. Unfortunately people often overlook this. Much like bullying, you rarely walk away from such a situation entirely whole.

That being said: this is obviously an issue that weighs heavily on the person(s) that posted it. Maybe they haven't sorted all the dimensions of the issues in their own heads either. So it's hard to say that merely posting it defines the scope of the entire situation.

I agree with Gblake above (bottom of last page). Let's let them advance the issue with the people that can get into the specifics if they wish to do so. At least this way it won't turn into a free-for-all in a public venue where the harm to every person involved will be impossible to understand, control or balance in fairness.

To put that in perspective I have looks like 4 pieces of negative feedback from students from this topic towards my reputation.
Seriously you all think you can handle this responsibly in this forum with reactions like that?
You have every right to your opinions and so do I and it's this sort of reaction why raising a posse rarely creates justice.

So to reverse this issue: if I have to take the reputation hit to speak my mind so be it, I will make the unpopular point.
Anyone that knows me knows that I know what it is to be bullied so think that over.
I am not in school, I am 38 and I am at the top of my field in STEM and I make almost 4x what my Mother & Father did.
I got here around countless bullies and bad situations so I am sorry if advice that worked for me is not the advice people want to have posted but I learned a long time ago to be true to myself.
There is endless opportunity for conflict in life, you can't hope to fight every battle, you can pick the conflicts that are likely to matter to you the most and navigate around the rest.
Otherwise you may fight the good fight in every battle and in the end you missed out on your dreams because you let everyone else hold you back in their endless battles and bickering.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

you know it sounds like you have a huge team that has some serious issues that likely aren't going to be resolved without the mentors being "retrained" in their responsibilities. That said, mentors aren't babysitters, either. How many members feel the way you do? Can you enlist their help to confront the bullies?

Many adults who are not involved in education believe kids will do their own policing, and sometimes that happens, but even in the best groups there can be problems. We have one student, for example, who is bipolar and bullies others to get their way. It's difficult for mentors to know how far to let this go, when they are so manipulative. Even a team vote can be bullied by this person. After having a couple of disastrous work sessions following this student's insistence for a redesign of one of the robot's elements, our mentors and other students started seeing the problem. We have worked as a team to reign this individual in, and still let them know that their input is important, but that we wouldn't tolerate their bullying or manipulations.

My advice is to get a group of students together who feel the way you do, outline the problems (without a blaming tone, just be factual), and ask that you sit down with one or two of the mentors you feel are receptive. This is really important to do before you go to competition, as frankly competitions seem to bring out the worst member-to-member interactions.

If your team is huge, it may be time to form another team if the mentors are receptive to that idea. Sometimes starting fresh is best. On the other hand, teams change so much every year with their graduating seniors.....

hope this helps some....

Re:
 

If you notice at all FIRST events, anyone enter the playing area/arena is subject to audio/video recordings & that by entering the facility you are giving permission to be recorded. This can be a alternate for those laws.

Re: Team Corruption - Advice Urgently Needed
 

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but if you still need help, my team has extensive experience with inner-team corruption and issues with upper management not being the most quality of people, and have a lot of advice to give. PM me if interested (it's a long story and an even longer solution).