Attention Mascots (and teams with one)

[PizzaBoxZombie]

Just want to make everyone aware... this got published to tumblr after WC:

"Dear Team Mascots,
Mascots are wonderful for upping spirit and bringing excitement to events, but there are some things I would like to share with you.
At robotics world championships this year, some of you made me very uncomfortable. I had mascots refuse to let me pass without a hug and who touched me without permission. I had a few very bad mascots who groped me. The anonymity that comes with the mascot head or mask also comes with a responsibility. You are representing your team. You need to ask permission to hug people (and that can be nonverbal). You need to represent your team positively. You need to understand that not everyone appreciates mascot interaction.
Keep bringing the spirit, just keep in mind that respect is still necessary.
It would be helpful for team members to bring this up to mascots and to mentors. Let’s keep gracious professionalism going."

This was a response posted to it:

"This was a huge problem for me at Champs. I don’t like mascots, particularly animal ones. It’s that simple. I have nothing against the people in the costumes… the costumes themselves just make me uncomfortable.
A certain mascot high-fived the team member I was walking with in the pits and as I tried to walk past, grabbed me from behind, hugged me full on, and whispered, “This is all your fault,” into my ear. It was a very creepy (and honestly almost rape-esque) thing to say. I was shaking when I walked back into our pit.
Mascots… if someone is avoiding you or not looking at you, don’t hug them. It’s not you, it’s the costume."


~At MAR Champs, there was a particular mascot that one of our students was not happy being around due to how it looked. The person inside found out, and made a big deal out of interacting with our student when [the mascot] saw him. I put my foot down when the mascot wrestled a scouting board (a match was about to start!) from the student and would not let go until i yelled into the eye holes to get his attention- he was so totally focused on being 'funny' that he didn't notice when his actions were no longer wanted and went over the line.
~I also had a student comment off-hand about the number of times she was groped this year by mascots- the fact that this number is anything but zero is a problem.

Everyone that dons a costume needs to understand what is and is not acceptable behavior. Personally, I enjoy mascots. To be fair though, in my 7 years in FIRST I have never had a bad run-in until the episode mentioned above. There are really great folks inside some of those costumes- but it seems that once again a few bad ones are ruining a lot of people's fun.
Think about this- the next time you give out an unwanted hug or physical interaction, do you really know who that person is, let alone what they are going through? What if it's the kid of your biggest sponsor? What if it is one of your sponsors?