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Unread 24-08-2010, 10:57
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Taylor Taylor is offline
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FRC #3487 (Red Pride Robotics)
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Re: Limits on Team Hours

Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthCarolinaRo View Post
We are getting ready to begin our third year and the amount of hours students are putting into Robotics is very concerning to me. Most importantly, safety. Either driving late at night or being careless with equipment because of lack of sleep.

I am the parent of two kids playing high school basketball. Which takes place for the first half of our build season. Our robotics kids put in three to five times as many hours than my kids do their high school teams.

I think it is totally crazy to see this much time being spent building a robot. I do not think it was the intent of FIRST to have students devote this many hours building a robot. Not during a school year.
First, and quite tangentially, I see that SouthCarolinaRo has negative rep for this statement. I find that appalling - this parent obviously has valid concerns for his or her children, and would benefit from an open and positive-to-neutral discourse about the situation, not negative reputation points (I know, they're just dots, but they still carry a connotation).

Back to the point - I do not know how your children's robotics team is run, I can only go from the experience of my team and conversations I've had with teams around me. Athletic teams have mandatory meetings and practices, both in and out of the season. If a player misses a practice, he or she may not start/play in the next game.
However, robotics is different. If a student, or that student's parents, feel that too much time is being used in this one endeavor, that student absolutely has the right to "miss practice" once in a while. I expect Varsity CyberCards to be at >80% of team functions, and Junior Varsity members to be at >60%. Realistically, most kids are here for everything, but if they need to take some time for schoolwork/job/other activities, we all understand.
Talk to your team's head mentor or lead teacher, see if you can work out a compromise. If you say your children have to be home by 8pm, or can only be there 5 days a week, I'm sure the team leaders would be receptive to your concerns.
Regarding your last paragraph, it is important to realize the purpose of FIRST is not simply to build a robot. The intent of FIRST is to "inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership." (taken from usfirst.org) As long as the goal is being met, the time being spent on that goal is completely irrelevant.
In FIRST, as with everything else, people get out of it what they put into it.
Regarding the timing of build season, there isn't really a 4-month period anywhere else in the year where all the things the happen in a FIRST season can happen. If it was held during the summer, the program would die. I've been bitten by the FIRST bug just about as hard as anybody, but I wouldn't be willing to give up my summer family time for it.
As has been said before, sometimes boundaries need to be set, limitations should not be exceeded haphazardly, and sometimes those are deeply individual and personal things.
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