# Piss off, random parents/teachers and Google. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138 "2009-05-12T05:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/21 "2009-05-12T17:00:53Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > The local mall ran a kids drawing contest around a fire safety theme. One of the third graders drew a nice picture of McGruff the crime dog holding a burnt out match. The picture was labeled “Help take a Bite out of Matches.” > **That** was a pretty original thought from an 8 year old. “Mommy, I made this copyright violation ALL BY MY SELF!” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/22 "2009-05-12T17:04:37Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “Mommy, I made this copyright violation ALL BY MY SELF!” Probably died of phosphorus poisoning too. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/23 "2009-05-12T17:09:00Z")
“irrespective of our religion” and “respectful coexistence” from an 8-year-old! I hope that kid’s been skipped to high school…he’d be wasting his time in the 3rd grade. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/24 "2009-05-12T18:34:08Z")
I think whoever wrote that “One World One God” one is somewhat confused. We’re equal under one god, but also respect other religions? Does that include polytheistic religions? ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/25 "2009-05-12T18:47:29Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I suggest that if the OP ever has a child who is invited to take part in a pinewood derby competition, **Aankh** and child should just opt out. 😉 For some reason, pinewood derby competitions were the first thing I thought of after reading the OP too. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/26 "2009-05-12T18:49:50Z")
That and it’s also just fuckin’ lame to plagiarise the Coexist bumper sticker. Real originality there, ace. About the grafitti, well, if they want to make some huge public park with cement walls where people can go and do grafitti on those walls, and only on those walls, that’s OK with me. But 99 percent of grafitti is just property crime in my opinion. Someone worked hard to own that store or building, pay the rent on it, etc, and then some asshole just comes up and fucks up the wall with his “art.” Yeah I’ve seen a lot of elaborate grafitti art, some of it pretty impressive from an artistic standpoint, but it’s still grafitti. I mean, where do you draw the line? For every elaborate graf. piece there’s also a lot of “spitting” or shitty, rudimentary squiggles and scribbles of peoples’ tags or gang tags…are those “art” also? As far as I’m concerned that grafitti Google logo is just a stupid attempt to placate the “inner city” culture, while disregarding that it’s promoting crime. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/27 "2009-05-12T19:26:38Z")
While I (not a parent) can’t really judge the level of the artwork, I have no trouble with imagining a kid who has just done a “green” unit at school coming up with the idea for the green one, or a child who’s just had a parent or grandparent fighting breast cancer to come up with the pink ribbon one. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/28 "2009-05-12T20:49:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, I’m willing to bet at least half the entries had to be cut because they had Harry Potter or Spongebob in them. If I asked my seven year old son to do one, you’d get Doctor Who fighting Darth Vader while Bender looked on. Which would be totally cool. Sadly, I suspect that killjoy teachers weeded out the entries with Spiderman fighting giant mechas in favour of rainbows and dolphins. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/29 "2009-05-12T21:00:42Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > While I (not a parent) can’t really judge the level of the artwork, I have no trouble with imagining a kid who has just done a “green” unit at school coming up with the idea for the green one, or a child who’s just had a parent or grandparent fighting breast cancer to come up with the pink ribbon one. Plus most of these thoughts aren’t that original, which makes them pretty realistic. They probably know that things like the environment, helping animals, being healthy are good things and put them into their own, kid words. It looks pretty realistic to me: > [@](#): > > I wish for a world full of pets. When you have a pet, you’re never alone and you always have a friend. Pets give love to the world. I’m sure someone else cleaned up the spelling and grammar but it sounds like the kind of obvious, heavy handed thing a little kid might do. Sure, most of them are well drawn but if we’re looking at twenty or thirty of the best drawings, isn’t that understandable? Why a :rolleyes: for “Take a bite out of matches”? It’s pretty clever for a kid, but it’s not inconceivable. It’s just taking the McDuff saying and altering it a little. I think an eight year old could do that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/30 "2009-05-12T21:07:57Z")
> [@Aankh](#): > > 😃 Your post just made me realise I still haven’t lost my late 90s Bombay slang. Yeah, it wouldn’t make sense to you. In the late '60s, early '70s (at least) random in the sense you used it in was a major part of MIT slang. I got it. When my kids were in late elementary school they often got class assignments which were art projects that were difficult or impossible for them to do themselves. It is a lot easier for a textbook writer to come up with something than for a kid to execute it. That might be how parents got used to “helping.” ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/31 "2009-05-12T22:15:58Z")
> [@Aankh](#): > > Breast cancer awareness? Yeah, that’s EXACTLY what 6 and 7 year olds think about when they’re told to doodle. A 6-year-old whose grandma had breast cancer just might. If Google had been around and had a competition like this when I was a kid, my entry probably would have had something to do with world peace or ecology (the word “green” hadn’t yet become a catch-all for environmental consciousness, but the concept was certainly around) because I knew those would be more likely to win a contest than wishing everyone could eat stay up late and eat as much ice cream as they wanted. Kids notice more about the world around them than you seem to want to give them credit for. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/32 "2009-05-12T22:33:06Z")
What’s laughable are the captions. The religious symbol one says: “… Our world will be a better place, if we love and respect each other irrespective of our religion. With respectful coexistence of different religions, peace will prevail in the world. - Sameek, age 8” Yeah, because 8 year-olds write just like that. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/33 "2009-05-12T23:00:00Z")
**Aankh** said: > [@](#): > > Seriously, doves carrying the world to a better place? Religious symbols for the letters in ‘Google’? Breast cancer awareness? Yeah, that’s EXACTLY what 6 and 7 year olds think about when they’re told to doodle. This was not a case of “draw whatever you like”, but rather they were given a theme, “What I Wish for the World.” I’m sure they were encouraged in how to interpret that statement to be something like “How would you make the world a better place?” None of the ideas shown are outlandish for children those ages (5 to 9). Some of the descriptions do seem well written. None of the artwork is beyond the capability of kids that age. Okay, beyond _my_ capability at those ages, but I recall plenty of poster competitions with artwork that quality. Usually by girls. And who says they aren’t allowed stencils? I think the real complaint is that these are called “doodles”. These aren’t whipped out scribbles on paper, but crafted projects. Google just liked the word “doodle” because it looks and sounds similar, so they called it a “doodle” project. **Argent Towers** said: > [@](#): > > I agree that the drawings, if they were even done by kids, are trite; and plagiarising the cliched “Coexist” bumper sticker does not constitute creativity. Oh please. For an 8 year old that is the height of creativity. It’s not like this kid is a professional advertising logo creator. He/she is a kid. **Aankh** said: > [@](#): > > But shit like ‘love and respect irrespective of religion’ and a perfectly drawn pink ribbon followed by a 6 year old preaching about raising money to make breast cancer go away…that stuff chaps my hide. The “love and respect irrespective of religion” was from an 8 year old. And I think even I could have managed a ribbon like that at 6 (though I couldn’t have colored within the lines that well). As for “preaching about rasing money”, that would be on the mind of a child who just had a grandmother who survived breast cancer. She would have had a lot of time to think about breast cancer, and been informed about breast cancer awareness, the pink ribbons, and the need for research money. So yes, that does sound plausible for a 6 year old. **I Am The Lorax** said: > [@](#): > > Yup, I think he might have been the only kid in Pre-K, kindergarten or first grade that didn’t cheat. I told him such, and made sure he understood how important it is to do your own work and be proud of what you do. That is a shame. My nephew recently won a district wide science fair - Best in Fair trophy, same age group (he is 6). Reason he won - he did almost all the work himself. His granddad helped him pick a topic - ballistic trajectory, i.e. how angle of departure affects distance traveled. Granddad helped drill a hole to construct the test rig using a nerf gun, but my nephew did everything esle. Including gathering the data, plotting it, summarizing the conclusions. He understood what the point was and what the results meant. The kids were interviewed by the judges independent from the parents. His artwork wasn’t neat and his writing might not have been great, but it was all his work. **Vinyl Turnip** said: > [@](#): > > “Mommy, I made this copyright violation ALL BY MY SELF!” Please! You think a 9 year old understands copyright violation? That was a very age-appropriate level of creativity. Take something you know “McGruff” and use it in a different context (fighting fire instead of crime). Sure, it doesn’t actually make sense (“Take a bite out of matches?”), but it was age-appropriate work. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/34 "2009-05-12T23:33:04Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > None of the artwork is beyond the capability of kids that age. Okay, beyond _my_ capability at those ages, but I recall plenty of poster competitions with artwork that quality. Usually by girls. And who says they aren’t allowed stencils? I think the real complaint is that these are called “doodles”. These aren’t whipped out scribbles on paper, but crafted projects. Google just liked the word “doodle” because it looks and sounds similar, so they called it a “doodle” project. Agreed. I was often pretty bowled over by the stuff kids my age did. And those were only the best two or three kids in one class. Here we are talking the best projects in the entire country. We’re not talking about the average 8 year old or 6 yo or 15 yo but the best of the best. > [@](#): > > Please! You think a 9 year old understands copyright violation? That was a very age-appropriate level of creativity. Take something you know “McGruff” and use it in a different context (fighting fire instead of crime). Sure, it doesn’t actually make sense (“Take a bite out of matches?”), but it was age-appropriate work. Yeah, I agree with this, too. It doesn’t make that much sense, but it’s creative for the age level. It’s the kid trying to apply a slogan in another context. I can see this 8 yo doing something more clever with language when they’re older and more experienced, but for the age level, not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/35 "2009-05-12T23:57:56Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Yeah, I agree with this, too. It doesn’t make that much sense, but it’s creative for the age level. It’s the kid trying to apply a slogan in another context. Yup, the kid was trying hard, and scored something that if not perfect was at least pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/36 "2009-05-13T00:03:55Z")
> [@Elyanna](#): > > I like the skinny dipping one (Grades 10-12, region 8). EVERYBODY IN THE ARMY, GET NEKKID In the same vein, I nominate the “Lets Heal the Planet” logo (grades 4-6) to the unintentionally funny category. I do believe that’s a _hot water bottle_ on the Arctic ice cap, not to mention that Canada and the western United States are not going to be happy under that band-aid. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/37 "2009-05-13T00:51:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In the late '60s, early '70s (at least) random in the sense you used it in was a major part of MIT slang. I got it. Out of curiosity, could you explain for those of us who aren’t familiar? What does “random”/“randomly” mean when used in the manner of the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/38 "2009-05-13T01:04:36Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “Mommy, I made this copyright violation ALL BY MY SELF!” Copyright violation? That’s practically textbook fair use. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/39 "2009-05-13T01:31:42Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Also I’m not particularly pleased about the [Grafitti-style](http://www.google.com/doodle4google/2009/images/regional_doodles/MARTINEZ_10_CO.jpg) one: > > Way to go, Google; encouraging people to commit property crime. Hey Google; I think I am going to drive down to the Google headquarters and spraypaint some of my own “art form” onto the side of your building. How do you feel about that? I love that graffiti one. Love it. Most of those drawings make my daughter’s artwork look like the work of a far-sighted drooling imbecile. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/40 "2009-05-13T01:43:19Z")
Yeah maybe it _looks_ cool, but I don’t like the message that goes with it. For every artistic piece of graffiti there are nine billion horrible, ugly, talentless tags. But even a very elaborate, detailed and artistic piece that’s sprayed on a wall without permission from that wall’s owner is still a form of vandalism, as far as I’m concerned. Even putting aside the aesthetic argument, the mentality that people should be able to “express themselves” by spraypainting the walls of other peoples’ property is bullshit. Like I said, would Google like it if I drove to their corporate headquarters and “expressed myself” all over their wall? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138.md?page=3)