Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Language is cultural.

will.i.am was sharing his culture.

For some of us, his culture is one we share only with close friends. For others, it blends with our work environment (as a teacher at an alternative high school, this is actually the case for me.)

For many people, his culture is completely foreign. It doesn't make these people outdated. It doesn't make them sticks-in-the-mud. It just means they don't appreciate it. That's okay too.

If what he said is something that will impact your team in a positive way, then use it.

If what he said is something that would put a negative light on your team, then don't use it.

It's the age-old debate of trying to prove that your way of [building a robot, organizing a team, drive coaching, finding finances, etc.] is better than others'. It's not.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Mother$@#$@#$@#$@#ing SigFigs!

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

A better tshirt design, hypothetically, would just be a plain black tee with a simple "#TSIMFD" on the front and "#lastchamps" on the back. All hypothetically though.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Yep, FIRST should just ban Will.I.Am from all events going forward because he said a few bad words. That'll teach all of the kids not to use potty words :rolleyes:

Also - please get off your high horse. It's insulting to think that people who are a little rough around the edges in FIRST don't want to help kids.

Every mentor has their own style and every team is different. I relate to my students on a personal level because I was one of them only 10 years ago. Sometimes that means saying things that aren't 100% politically correct. They know as crass as I can be sometimes that I'm doing it because I care about them and care about my team.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Exactly. As a student, I would be more motivated to spend time and working as a team, if everyone, including the mentor was close together on a personal level. If a mentor required that everyone was absolutely strict, and required that everything be done 100 percent correctly, people (especially teenagers) simply won't feel that they are part of a "family" and wont dedicate as much time into it.

And also, even I (a teenager) think that the teespring shirt is a bit too much. At least "bleet" the words out, so its not so rash. Remember, the people who buy this shirt will be wearing it around people who will have no idea the context or the purpose of the words.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Mentors and students have all kinds of relationships that work well. I've already told you all about my general approach as a teacher and mentor. Maybe I wouldn't fit in on your team, or maybe I'd get fired as a teacher at your school; if not for playing music with naughty words, perhaps it would be for wearing t-shirts and blue jeans to work. I don't know. I'm kind of really glad I work were I do, at a diverse city school that has a very particular meaning in mind when they use the term "professional". I'm glad I don't work somewhere else, or coach some other team. And I will say that it does work for many teams and many students to be coached by someone who isn't their buddy, who keeps things strict and tight. It just wouldn't work for me. So don't rag too hard on folks who have a different style.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

*Insert Will Smith's "Parents Just Don't Understand"*

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

First the paper airplane barrage and now Will.I.AM has a potty mouth!?

Did anyone have fun this year my: goodness the carnage :p

We need potty mouth inspectors handing out tickets for the FIRST swear jar!
The FIRST swear jar should be on a AndyMark chassis and be summoned by the potty mouth inspector:
pay up or it will shake you to take your pocket change :)

(The FIRST swear jar robot is a viable commercial product to replace meter maids.)

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Honestly, I don't think he did anything wrong. I mean he was passionate and said what be wanted. It's not like highschool kids are so innocent and naive not to know those kind of words. Maybe if it were more common, we would be okay with it?

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

I don't think most people are arguing about the highschoolers hearing it (although some people are). From what I can tell, it's more-or-less the young kids, parents, and sponsors.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

Care to expand on this opinion?

So... you had no issue with the vulgarity in his music, including when he performed in front of large audiences. But then he's vulgar in front of a large audience, and you disapprove of it? :confused:

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

A few things.

I don't know if anyone has brought up the fact that there were plenty of smaller kids in the audience... and I don't know if it changes anyone's opinion.

Personally, if you take out the kids, I think the majority of teens and parents share and don't mind will.i.am's blunt opinion.

Also, as much as this inspires and markets FRC quite well, did it really show what FRC is about? I don't think it fits in with Woodie's definition of Gracious Professionalism...

Please note that I'm not actually for or against Will's comment.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

That is what bothers me. Many high schoolers may use that language in everyday conversation, and if the crowd was just high schoolers and adults, I probably wouldn't care too much. I think that what wil.i.am said does resonate well with that audience (since that is also his target audience as an entertainer) - more powerfully so than a more PC version of his statement. IMO, when a statement is scripted, or said using language very clearly not typical of the person speaking, it's harder to believe sincerity.

But when a 4th grader goes home and asks "Mommy, what does that mean?", I can imagine that might raise some parents' eyebrows and a bring up questions about the type of program their child is involved in that has them picking up that language. I don't think that younger kids quite understand how big of a deal it is that a major entertainer just dropped an f-bomb on a world stage in front of a lot of impressionable students and sponsors, so the shock value of the language (which is what makes the statement powerful to older students and adults) is lost on them.

I don't think that his language choice aligns well with FIRST's image of a program that develops young, confident professionals. Yes, inspiration and recognition of science and technology is why we're here, but the behavior of students who participate in the program reflects on the program itself (just like schools are for teaching, but every time you go on a field trip, you're told "don't forget, you're representing our school"). That's part of what sponsors see when they're looking at what their investment in this program is helping build. Swearing may be prevalent in many professional workplaces (mine included), but is still viewed as unprofessional in many contexts - interviews, presentations, when working with customers, etc, and that's what gives it a bad rap overall. I'm not sure how to communicate how I feel about this other than saying "it just doesn't look good on FIRST".

It's great that wil.i.am has been supportive of this program, and I appreciate his support even more so after the stories about his enthusiasm that Dean told during his speech. I appreciate his frankness and his sincerity, but I don't think it was appropriate for the audience.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

I have thought about this, and my response is that, if someone tells me that a child hasn't been exposed to much fowler language at school or in a general movie, than they have a really really protected childhood.

And in my opinion, i don't think this has anything to do with gracious professionalism. Gracious professionalism is showing passion and helping each other out (broken into the simplest terms). By doing this, Will.I.Am showed his passion for first.
But gracious professionalism and this just aren't related.

Re: WILL.I.AM's comment on Einstein
 

While I'm not commenting on the rest of your post, I can say that when I was in 4th grade (hell even 3rd grade) (7 years ago), i knew much fowler language than this. Times are simply changing.