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Unread 18-04-2005, 13:03
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Rich Kressly Rich Kressly is offline
Robot/STEM troublemaker since 2001
no team (Formerly 103 & 1712. Now run U.P. Robotics (other programs))
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Pennsburg, PA
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Re: We aim for the stars (Part I)

Ken,

As always your voice is a very important one here. It seems as though we went through the build season in strong fashion, but once the regionals started it became easy to focus on the winning and losing. These thoughts and feelings understandably become magnified when you consider how hard we all work at FIRST activities.

All of the best teachers and coaches I've had in my life constantly stressed the importance of what we are doing beyond the "game" we play. I could list the names here, but the important thing is that ALL competitions, in the end, are really with yourself - striving to be better, raise the bar, play the "perfect" game, doing things the "right way" especially when no one else is looking...

Along this path are many pitfalls. We live in a society (well, those of us in the US anyway) where parents in many communities are forced to sign codes of conduct in order to attend their child's youth baseball games. It's sad, but it's true, that a significant portion (not the majority, but a significant percentage) of our adult population does not know how to behave in public, ESPECIALLY when it's to attend a child's event or competition. The only appropriate word here in my mind is "pathetic". The more people we involve in FIRST through growth, the more we will need to nuture people away from the unfortunate trends we see in society.

I've spent a big chunk of my adult life structuring organized athletic programs for young people. Although I've been competitive and stressed commitment to kids, I'd also like to think I've always thought about how much involvement was appropriate at certain age levels. I'd also like to think I keep the big picture in mind. Does T-Ball really need to begin at Age 6? Does a 9-year-old really need to play a 30 game traveling soccer schedule? If these activities are deemed appropriate and if we are going to spend all of this time, money, and effort in programs that are supposedly for the kids, who's going to keep the big picture in mind for these groups and prevent adults from getting angry with each other for stupid reasons? FIRST is not immune to any of this.

If the adults with all of this involvement and investment in these programs choose to act like jerks, we are in trouble. The basic message is this - Just because you spend a lot of time, money, and effort doing something, that doesn't give you the right to misbehave. In fact, you've got an obligation, because of your position, to provide a role model example for others to follow and you need to take that obligation seriously at all times.

If we (adults, mentors, coaches) aren't here to teach young people the right way to live life through these activities, the kids would be MUCH better off if they would organize their own ball games AND robot building in their own neighborhoods as far away from the adults as possible.

Fortunately, FIRST is filled with postive adult role models who are making a positive difference for the future. The rest of us just need to recognize that, be aware of it at all times, and consciously work at changing the culture instead of allowing the negative elements of popular culture to seep into FIRST.

I told myself that my post was going to be brief. Oops. Thanks Ken.
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technology, innovation, and invention without a social conscience will only allow us to destroy ourselves in more creative ways

Last edited by Rich Kressly : 18-04-2005 at 13:20.
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