I Kept Quiet for far too long. This. Is. WAR!!!

[Rion Atkinson]

Originally Posted by Andy Grady

I remember when I was a kid just out of high school about 12 years ago. I found this forum and saw that it was a wonderful place to share ideas about the game, building robots, teams and the methods they used to get through the season. It was an excellent place for a kid to really connect with other people and enjoy science and technology on a whole new level.

Today I look on this forum and I see a lot of crap about behind the scenes politics and about how people are angry and miserable about this program. All things that were always very hidden to the eye of a student in my day. Back then, a student like me who was surfing this board enjoyed a sense of the magic that was a FIRST competition. Today a student surfing this board is saturated by the negative backdoor junk that they shouldn't even be subjected to.

Years ago I couldn't imagine FIRST without this board.

Today, I wonder if I should even promote this board to my kids at all.

Its a darn shame.

Maybe its time we should all get back to the basics...the joy of building something amazing with the people you care about.

I would like to begin by starting with my story of starting.

Then -
This year my team captain showed me the website. I absolutely loved it. Seeing as how FIRST is what REALLY got me into engineering, this was the greatest thing ever. I never saw public debates. Just people helping each other out.

Now - Though I have only been on Chief Delphi for 11 months, I have begun to see it differently. I still think it is wonderful. I still consider it the best site on the internet. (Second to MyLifeIsAverage of course. ) But I now see it in a different light. For it is not the site that has changed, but my view point.

What I am saying is this - Back when you start on this website, everything is new and magical. As you go on you begin to be able to pick out the minor problems. As time passes you begin to see the minor problems as big problems. (I'm not saying your wrong. I'm just saying this is what happens to me. )

Of course this website has changed. But this is due to the generation. This is the change caused by those who post here. If it is for the worse. I shall save that discussion for another time.

On the note of not showing this site to students. Why not? Why shelter them now? Where ever they end up going they will see it. Why not expose them in a controlled environment. In my personal opinion I would rather learn how to deal with it with a net to catch me if I fail then the shark infested pool we call the real world.