Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Line
This starts with the mentors. It's up to us to stamp it out. It's up to us to make it right.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Ore
How do we stop this? Mentors can guide students to have a good attitude. For example...
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First of all, I agree that these actions against 1114 (and other teams) does need to be pointed out and these ignorant and negative attitudes need to be confronted.
Here is another example:
I recall inspecting a team a few years ago. This team was from a small town where a strong, well-respected FRC team was located. In the pit, the team had two mentors and about four students focused on this conversation.
I started off the inspection process by asking them where they were from. They told me, and then talked about the other team in their area. As they talked about this other team, they said very accusatory things, claiming that this other team cheated by building their robot before the build season started, and they said that the team also had no students work on the robot at all. My first reaction was to try to disarm the situation, by saying that teams often make development robots in the fall, and then build a competition robot during the season. However, this seemed to get the lead mentor more fired up, raising his voice and increasing his claims.
At that time, I asked the two mentors to step out of the pit, away from the kids. What I wanted to tell them, I did not want the kids to hear. I found myself essentially scolding the mentors, so I did not want their students to see that. I asked them if they saw these rules being broken first hand. I asked them if they were 100% sure if no kids touched the robot. Then, I told them that I know this team well enough that neither of their claims are true. I knew about their team's off-season development, and I knew that students were deeply involved in all aspects. Then, I told them that their false claims were not only dangerous to the other team they are blaming, but also very dangerous to the students on their own team, in their own pit. I told them that they cannot make these false claims, and they need to explain what I said to their students who have heard them make these claims today and in the past.
I walked away, disgusted. About an hour later, I came back to the pit, and inspected the robot by only talking to the kids. The kids were very happy to see me and very respectful. The mentors were silent.
I don't know if these mentors are involved in FIRST anymore. If they are, I hope their views are very different.
I am proud that I took this action of confronting these mentors at this time. Other times, I have not. I will definitely be on the lookout for more of these opportunities. We all should be. We are here to educate, inspire, and mentor not only the students, but teams who need guidance, whether they know it or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor
... They're rock stars. And nobody hates Joe Perry or Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix because they play the guitar well. These folks are idolized and revered - and everybody knows they got to where they are through hard work and a bit of talent.
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This is a new view to this. While it is widely understood to have the "I hate the Yankees" view, this view brings a new twist to it. Thanks, Mike.
Sincerely,
Andy B.