How have you dealt with "salty behavior"?

[mrgoldtech]

I know over the course of FRC, many people have experienced dealing with "salty behavior", from rude looks towards specific teams in the pits to cheering when an enemy alliance experiences difficulties in the match. It's a problem that grows as the FRC family does but doesn't receive much attention (after all, FRC is composed of high schoolers !). So Delphi, what are some experiences you have had with salty behavior and how have you dealt with it? I'd love to know - thanks!

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by mrgoldtech

I know over the course of FRC, many people have experienced dealing with "salty behavior", from rude looks towards specific teams in the pits to cheering when an enemy alliance experiences difficulties in the match. It's a problem that grows as the FRC family does but doesn't receive much attention (after all, FRC is composed of high schoolers !). So Delphi, what are some experiences you have had with salty behavior and how have you dealt with it? I'd love to know - thanks!

We build robots. We aren't robots. We have emotions and people have a right to feel what they want. FIRST doesn't endorse mind control.

[brndn]

FRC is a competition after all, so "salty" attitudes are expected. People are entitled to their opinions and there is often lots of emotion expressed in the heat of the moment at these events. What's important to remember is Gracious Professionalism. It's the golden rule of FIRST, and exists not only because it is a value that all participants should identify with but also because it keeps the competition healthy and, for lack of a better word, professional.

All students, mentors, and volunteers should remind each other of this, especially when things start getting out of control. Without the other teams, there'd be no FRC. I'm thankful that the community exists, even if it has its problems. Putting other teams and individuals down doesn't do you any good anyway.

[smurfgirl]

I don't have enough mental energy left over after the important things to devote to worrying about it. With that said, an overwhelming majority of my interactions at FIRST events are positive, and I focus on those.

[Chad987]

For the most part you have to let it go. People have emotions and are entitled to opinions.

[Gdeaver]

Stick a bunch of human beings together and ask them to accomplish a difficult task. Then be the "fly on the wall" and observe. Most of the time there is some serious nastiness. The good teams will work it out and focus on the task and have success. This is a low probability event.

The main goal of every FIRST team, mentor and student, Should be to practice and find the methods that allow everyone to work together and accomplish great things. It is hard, harder than building a robot.

Students get to practice these skills before they go out into the world with their career and life on the line.

As one of last year's mentors said "It all begins with respect".

I've been doing this since 2000 and I'm still not a master of the "TEAM" thing.
Each year I try to do better.

[GeeTwo]

It depends on the situation:

• Within our own team, aggressively. We don't even applaud when someone drops a piece of metal stock during build sessions anymore.
• When directed against us, by ignoring it.
• When directed against another team, privately if a situation presents itself. Usually something simple like, "That wasn't very GP."

Counter-responses should be similarly respectful and discreet, for example:

• Apologetic: You don't need to apologize to me, but please correct me if you catch my GP slipping.
• Derisive: disengage, unless you're a lot more cool-headed and persuasive than I am.
• Confusion: Gracious Professionalism is tough to define, but <whatever> isn't it.

[CTbiker105]

I try to apply the mindset of "start none, take none," towards "salty behavior."

While I'd never express any sort of overt negativity towards another team or alliance, I'm also not going to stand idly by if my team or alliance is specifically being targeted with insulting behavior.

Obviously I'm not going to retaliate by hurling insults back at them, but I will point out and denounce their actions (preferable within the earshot of others) towards my team or our alliance.

[Dunngeon]

As a team it isn't really addressed, the students know how to deal with it. It's something everyone has to deal with throughout life, and it's better to learn it young than to ignore/hide it.

It's also extremely normal in a competitive environment. Problems crop up when the attitude persists for multiple hours/days, which is when it needs to be dealt with.

[Anthony4939]

If we are in the pits, we are all a team and will help anyone in need.

When we are on the field, we are there to win.

[JaneYoung]

This is an excellent topic for discussion.

Within the OP's question are lots of gold nuggets to be mined.

Here are a few:

1. Teenagers and attitudes
2. Mentors and attitudes
3. Mentors and their indifference towards the developmental behaviors and attitudes of teenagers

The expectations placed on the team as a whole, and reflected by the membership, begins way before a robot is built and a step is taken on the competition field.

It begins every single year at the very first team meeting. It can begin before that if the expectations and guidelines are documented and provided to those interested in joining the team and/or supporting the team. Examples for that would be during recruitment sessions and outreach events. Social media and team websites are also excellent vehicles for conveying the goals and expectations of the team, for the team, and, by the team.

Teenagers are shaped by many outside forces and those forces can be peer pressure, poor role models, and the popular culture. They can also be encouraged to think for themselves, work as a team, and respect differences and competition through the mentoring of good role models, wise peers, and a culture that values excellence, hard work, and educational opportunities -> learning from others.

I have experienced working with teams where the students determined the attitude and the mentors were clueless. The students were salty and dismissive of the wonderful success of other teams and then they wondered why they were never chosen as alliance partners. Again, the mentors were clueless.

I have also worked with teams where the students began with salty attitudes and behaviors and the mentors were tuned in and addressed the attitudes and behaviors, stating that they would not be allowed to continue. From there, discussions and documenting the discussions and decisions, helped to strengthen the common core values of the team. Students and mentors benefited, as well as the parent support group.

The natural cycle of growth within the team year after year, sees the seniors graduate, often taking their parent support with them. As that occurs, new students join the team, bringing new parents' support. Because of this cycle, it is imperative that the mentors stay vigilant with maintaining the training that goes with understanding and respecting the core values of the team.

During meetings before competition travel, the team is reminded of the the team expectations. During team meetings during the competition, problems are addressed as they arise and the team is reminded again.

All of the aspects of being on a FIRST team are difficult. They all require skill sets. Often, the skill sets continue to evolve and strengthen from year to year. Working on the team's core values can be very rewarding and adds flavors that sweeten the experience. The saltiness is no longer a part of the recipe for a team that is setting goals for achieving excellence, consistently.

To add: By doing this work, the team inherently learns how to cope with/handle the saltiness of other teams. The reason? The team's core is strong and can handle it.
Jane

[Pretzel]

I would recommend detaching yourself from the situation and trying to think it through from the other person's perspective. It's easier to handle something if you can figure out the motivation behind it.

If they're cheering for the other alliance's toppling stacks because they're on the edge of moving on in elimination rounds and that could push them over it could be as simple as reminding your team of tactful behavior in situations like that. If it's something born out of malice, I'm not sure what the appropriate response would be.

I know a negative experience with a mentor on another team left me with a dislike for that team until I talked with other team members about it and actually isolated the cause for my own prejudice. The incident was adrenaline-fueled and emotionally charged, which left me with fuzzy memories of it until I specifically went back to figure out what the reasoning behind it was. After doing so I attended two regional events with that team this year and had a great time playing both with and against them without any hard feelings.

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by Pretzel

If they're cheering for the other alliance's toppling stacks because they're on the edge of moving on in elimination rounds and that could push them over it could be as simple as reminding your team of tactful behavior in situations like that. If it's something born out of malice, I'm not sure what the appropriate response would be.

To be fair, we have done this when it meant that we were moving on to finals on Curie, no malice intended... this years game was really bad in that it encouraged you to wish for the failure of others. that being said, if the salt is by another team, you can usually just brush it off; if you stay fun and GP, more and more teams will like you instead of the salty team, hopefully facilitating a change in their behavior.