The question made me wonder how people really look at middle school and high school robotics.
Here is my response:
Robotics is simply a mechanical and software medium on which to work as a team to solve problems. Working together to solve problems is a skill that seems so easy yet is elusive for many. Learning how to communicate with teammates, learning how to LISTEN to teammates. Learning how to fail in front of teammates and then learning how to watch someone fail but then learn from the experience. All of these are skills which are key life skills. You learn this at VEX, USFirst or even playing basketball, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
Below is a link to a video which may or may not help connect the dots for you. To me, it lets one see raw new technology before its full utility or usefulness is understood. Just as the mouse was developed in a XEROX research lab but was used in an unexpected way by Apple, this MIT video shows something that is being explored as a team. Along the way they developed some unexpected technology. Note his frequent use of WE. I bet there was a team of programmers as well as electrical and mechanical engineers working on this concept. Same thing in VEX or First LEGO League. Some kids program, some build, some stratagize. It is doing it together so that the "sum of the parts is greater than the whole" that is so important.
