How have you dealt with "salty behavior"?

[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