Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol
I think the real question is, does he have a recognized, legally defined disability or is he just short?
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I agree with the question posted by Carol as well. It's one I need to ask to the student and parent in question.
Being that FIRST in my opinion has lifted the age requirement of FRC, used to be 14 years old I remember, to a term they say PRE-COLLEGE, could open up the doors on these new issues of 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th grade drivers on an FRC team that are "short" because of their age and have not "bloomed" yet.
Unlike most high school based FRC teams, with a new injection of 4-H teams like us since 2005, we are open to all high schools surrounding, all home school students, and all MIDDLE SCHOOL students on our FRC team. 4-H does not restrict us to just one single high school.
Therefore a different prespective for FIRST should be considered or put the age limit back, when everyone assumes if you are an FRC team, that you are related or have relationships with a high school. This has been a battle for us from grants to younger kids on the drive team.
With this "assumption" that all FRC team members are high school kids, then when the wall was designed a decade ago height consideration was probably given for a standard high school aged kid, not a middle school student.
Again, I believe FRC used to be like that, then changed the age requirement so I wonder if FIRST needs to consider situations like 4-H teams that are not high school based.
I am ok with the decision, but I hope GDC sees our situation and either considers the wall is not designed for PRE-COLLEGE middle school students, or places the age limit back for safety reasons.
In the case of the student in question, he is very short for his age about a foot difference than the rest of the kids his age. The student is also 14 years old as well...