Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyle Love
In a short answer, no. If you really observe all students at FIRST events, there is a mix of polite "good kids" and kids who tend not to behave properly. Through my teaching observation at Harrison High School in West Lafayette, IN, I did not have any students that were involved in FIRST and noticed no change in the overall student behaviors.
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Finally, a response I agree with 100%!!! As someone who has chaperoned for many (too many) years, I do not think FIRST kids are better behaved than other kids. Ask Wetzel about some of things he and his cohorts did when they were the leaders on 116. And it isn't just 116, I've had many conversations with chaperons from other teams to know that they have to deal with typical behavior from students that age. Also, I've sat in the stands many times and have seen both kids and adults be rude and nasty over seats they have saved (to be fair, I've also seen many adults and students be very generous and kind in sharing their seats). I've heard students from another team in Virginia go on and on about how much they hate Dave (this petty behavior has gone on for years and years now). There was a thread on CD a few years ago where students were asking what crazy things people did in Atlanta... one thing that I will never forget is the kids who talked about balcony hopping (from a fatal height) to get to the girls' room next door. Last year in our hotel in Atlanta, students from multiple teams, mine included, were dropping things from the top floor (47th floor or so) to the ground level until security was called in. And there are worse things, that I'm not going to discuss because I think some things, once dealt with, are best left dormant.
I'm not trying to sound negative, because overall, I think kids involved in FIRST are great. But I think they are still teens and they still act like teens. Also, saying "behave better" comes too close to saying "are better" and I hate seeing the attitude of "FIRST blah blah blahs are better than other blah blah blahs" because it's snobbery and, in my opinion, doesn't fit with gracious professionalism. I belonged to a club when I went to FSU that boasted of having the highest cumulative GPA of any club on campus... and it's something they boasted about and flaunted and bragged on and eventually no one wanted to play with them anymore. The "better than" attitude leads countries to war.
Okay, I don't know where this rant came from, I guess it's something I've been thinking about since the first time I saw this thread. Like I said, overall, I think kids involved in FIRST are great, otherwise I wouldn't have spent the past 7-8 years working with them.
Heidi