# 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:** 3
**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 13, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/41 "2009-05-13T02:06:31Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 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? So would you be okay with it if the kid hadn’t said he liked the idea of graffiti? It seems petty to dismiss the image based on the caption. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/42 "2009-05-13T02:08:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 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? When did he say anything about spray painting stuff on other people’s walls? There are tons of legal walls and other completely reasonable place to create graffiti. Every serious graffiti artist would like more legal walls and legit places to practice their art. There are tons of graffiti artists who never break a single law. Okay, sure, there are lots of graffiti artists who do break laws. Does this somehow mean that making art with spray cans is inherently bad, to the point that legit organizations should never mention it in a positive light? You’d have to have an awfully huge stick up your butt to say “yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/43 "2009-05-13T02:21:24Z")
> [@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. 😉 My son, the Eagle Scout, always did his own pinwood derby cars. He never won, but the work was all his. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/44 "2009-05-13T02:45:56Z")
> [@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. Yup - they’re kinda normal, really. Kids do come out with some _really_ deep thoughts sometimes, anyway. The one that looks most sus is from a small boy in India using lots of big complicated English words. I wonder if maybe he was speaking in a different language and the translation got a little too flowery? > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > 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’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. Agreed. The drawings are very good, but some kids that age _are_ very good. My daughter goes to a drawing class after school, and the work there is not the sort of work you’d expect from kids. [This](http://www.flickr.com/photos/scifisam2008/3096444670/) is one of hers, and [this caricature is another](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/3095565301_031e8fc05c.jpg?v=1228854930), but they’re drawings done in around an hour just for fun - for a competition, I’m sure her standard would be much higher (and, even though I’m her Mum, I admit that there are more talented artists than her in the class). Parents submitting their own work under their kids’ names is really annoying, but it’s impossible to say how many (if any) of these works had just a little too much help. Mind you, parents doing the work for their kids is something I’ve only ever seen in movies, not in real life. What a horrible thing to do to your own kid, let alone their competition. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/45 "2009-05-13T02:52:38Z")
Ah, correction: I thought the little boy who did the religious symbols was in India, not the US. Course, he could still be speaking through a translator, but maybe his parents really did do that work for him. Mind you, he’s 8 - it is possible for an eight-year-old’s drawing to be a s neat as that. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/46 "2009-05-13T03:20:46Z")
A friend of mine teaches at a magnet elementary school for Arts. Third graders with portfolio pieces I couldn’t pull off. And I know their parents aren’t doing the work for them as the work is happening in her classroom. Kids also parrot back the most astounding phrases…my daughter learned about inherent worth in Sunday school - six months later in school they had a workshop about respecting everyone - even the kids who are ‘different’ - and my daughter goes spouting off on inherent worth (earning me a call from the principal to say ‘whatever you are teaching your daughter outside of school, keep doing it - that was amazing’). The thoughts were not original (few thoughts are), nor were her choice of words. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/47 "2009-05-13T04:35:10Z")
In California every student in the fourth grade has to do a project on one of the missions here. I did San Juan Batista and my mock-up of the mission looked absolutely horrid. It was cardboard cutout which was all lopsided and yeah. Awful. I got a B because it was obvious I did all the work myself. You could tell when I kid either had theirs bought or had their parents help them. Especially that kid whose dad was an architect and the mission had running water. Jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/48 "2009-05-13T05:10:14Z")
The one that makes me roll my eyes the hardest is K-3 Region 7. If a five year old drew that (letters included!), I’d eat my art supplies. It’s not just that it’s way too good for a five year old, but it’s practically a perfect representation of adults drawing in a childish way. Everything is made up of simple shapes, but the lines have a clean, artistic grace to them. The edges are soft, round, child-like, and are all perfect circles. The coloring is bright, with a scribbled look, but it’s well saturated, and rarely goes outside of the lines. Even the ‘out of lines’ bits look like they’re there for effect. It’s exactly like a hundred ‘a child drew this’ logos I’ve seen, all of which were, of course, drawn by a professional. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/49 "2009-05-13T06:36:28Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > The one that makes me roll my eyes the hardest is K-3 Region 7. If a five year old drew that (letters included!), I’d eat my art supplies. It’s not just that it’s way too good for a five year old, but it’s practically a perfect representation of adults drawing in a childish way. Everything is made up of simple shapes, but the lines have a clean, artistic grace to them. The edges are soft, round, child-like, and are all perfect circles. The coloring is bright, with a scribbled look, but it’s well saturated, and rarely goes outside of the lines. Even the ‘out of lines’ bits look like they’re there for effect. > > It’s exactly like a hundred ‘a child drew this’ logos I’ve seen, all of which were, of course, drawn by a professional. You have a point there. Also, the people have short arms and legs, like in kids’ drawings, but the shortness is the same on pretty much every person, which isn’t normal. Funny, also, that a child who is at the drawing stage where a person standing sideways has arms stuck on one atop the other, but nonethless has the ability to position a drawing of a person perfectly in front of a drawing of some letters. (FWIW, the pictures that I posted that were by my daughter were drawn when she was of an age that would be the KS-3 category if we lived in the states). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/50 "2009-05-13T12:12:49Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > The one that makes me roll my eyes the hardest is K-3 Region 7. If a five year old drew that (letters included!), I’d eat my art supplies. It’s not just that it’s way too good for a five year old, but it’s practically a perfect representation of adults drawing in a childish way. Everything is made up of simple shapes, but the lines have a clean, artistic grace to them. The edges are soft, round, child-like, and are all perfect circles. The coloring is bright, with a scribbled look, but it’s well saturated, and rarely goes outside of the lines. Even the ‘out of lines’ bits look like they’re there for effect. > > It’s exactly like a hundred ‘a child drew this’ logos I’ve seen, all of which were, of course, drawn by a professional. I think the letters were traced or otherwise copied. Are their rules against tracing? ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/51 "2009-05-14T06:26:16Z")
I have to agree that some of these drawings do not seem as if a child drew them. I have been involved in art my whole life and it’s an important part of me. Because of this,my daughter is into the arts as well. We draw all the time. I think (despite the fact that I’m her mom) that she is quite advanced for her age (5). Some of the things she has drawn amaze me… But truthfully I liked her stuff from a couple of years ago better - my favorite was “angry rooster singing, wearing a dress”. Now her stuff is influenced by what she knows: her mermaids all suspiciously look like Ariel, for example. In short, despite her talent, I don’t see that she could pull off the friendship one. It’s far too ‘perfect’. Perhaps that child is 5 almost 6 and that makes a huge difference… I have no idea. I think the hardest thing I would have with this contest is explaining “google”. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/52 "2009-05-14T10:11:02Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > The one that makes me roll my eyes the hardest is K-3 Region 7. If a five year old drew that (letters included!), I’d eat my art supplies. It’s not just that it’s way too good for a five year old, but it’s practically a perfect representation of adults drawing in a childish way. If you look at it carefully, a couple of the top figures _do_ look like a young child’s work, like the black girl with the pink dress and dreads, but as you get to the upside down figures, they’re clearly drawn by someone much older: the perspective on the half-turned face of the blonde girl with the crown is actually quite sophisticated. Miriam Lowry, you are a dirty rotten sneak. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/53 "2009-05-14T13:12:07Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > I have to agree that some of these drawings do not seem as if a child drew them. > > I have been involved in art my whole life and it’s an important part of me. Because of this,my daughter is into the arts as well. We draw all the time. I think (despite the fact that I’m her mom) that she is quite advanced for her age (5). Some of the things she has drawn amaze me… But truthfully I liked her stuff from a couple of years ago better - my favorite was “angry rooster singing, wearing a dress”. Now her stuff is influenced by what she knows: her mermaids all suspiciously look like Ariel, for example. > > In short, despite her talent, I don’t see that she could pull off the friendship one. It’s far too ‘perfect’. Perhaps that child is 5 almost 6 and that makes a huge difference… I have no idea. > > I think the hardest thing I would have with this contest is explaining “google”. I think all kids go through a period of, basically, copying stuff they like when learning to draw. This isn’t a bad thing in my opinion - it is simply a stage in their development. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/54 "2009-05-14T13:23:40Z")
I have to admit that one of the big reasons I voted for K-3 Region 5 (A World of Pets) was because it looked like something a kid drew alone. Well, plus I love the bunny eating the carrot. ---
**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 14, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/55 "2009-05-14T14:21:13Z")
I LOVE the idea of angry rooster singing, wearing a dress. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/56 "2009-05-15T04:04:07Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I think all kids go through a period of, basically, copying stuff they like when learning to draw. This isn’t a bad thing in my opinion - it is simply a stage in their development. Oh for sure. It’s not a bad thing… more of a sad thing. I liked the other stuff so much more! I loved it when the mermaids had all colors of hair…now they all have Ariel Red® because that is LAW. 🙂 circa 2 years old, from her barn animal period:[angry rooster singing, wearing a dress](http://web.me.com/dyba/dyba/Easter_Egg_10.html) I absolutely love him. He is framed in a nice frame and it makes me laugh when people ask me if its “real” art or hers. ---
**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 15, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/57 "2009-05-15T04:48:56Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > circa 2 years old, from her barn animal period:[angry rooster singing, wearing a dress](http://web.me.com/dyba/dyba/Easter_Egg_10.html) I absolutely love him. He is framed in a nice frame and it makes me laugh when people ask me if its “real” art or hers. Awesome! And I think the answer to that question is, “Yes.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/58 "2009-05-15T14:11:51Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > I liked the other stuff so much more! I loved it when the mermaids had all colors of hair…now they all have Ariel Red® because that is LAW. 🙂 Maybe if she saw [an actual mermaid](http://www.voiceoffreedom.org/strange/strangemay/images/milagros.JPG); that is, as close to one as humanly possible. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/59 "2009-05-15T21:30:39Z")
The only one that looks suspect to me at all is the Region 7 Friendship one. I can’t quite articulate what it is that bugs me, but the outline of the continents is, I think, part of it. But then what is that big green thing in the middle of the Atlantic? I think it’s just the quantity of material. A higher qualtity/larger image would help. Squinting at the screen makes it a challenge to evaluate. Yes, some of the write ups are suspect, perhaps the wording was helped. What we are seeing is the work of 100 state Finalists (at each level; 400 total) weeded down to 10 best for consideration. So yes, the themes are going to be what adults think are interesting themes, and the ideas and artwork are going to be above average for the age range. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138/60 "2009-05-15T22:26:53Z")
> [@Aankh](#): > > You know what? Confession time. > > For such competitions, who on this board… > (a) was helped by their parents? Never. Jesus, what sort of people would do that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-off-random-parents-teachers-and-google/496138.md?page=4)