I'd be inclined to be a bit tougher...give the parents the grade for the project and give the kid an F for plagerism.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
I've been a judge for years at the Silicon Valley Science and Engineering Fair (I'm also on the Fair's Board of Directors). Now known as the the Synopsys Science and Engineering Challenge, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Synopsys. (That last part- -the "Wholly Owned Subsidiary" part- -isn't really true. It's just hard to tell sometimes.)
In judging, we (the judging team) first look at the projects by ourselves, then the kids come in and we grill, er, interview them. There have been numerous occasions when we came across really exciting, well-done projects. Then we talk to the kid who supposedly did it and he/she understands nada. TILT!
There have also been a number of occasions when the parents were irate that the kids didn't win any prize at all. I guess we (the judges) are supposed to be dumber than we are. It then becomes the job of the Board to explain to the parent that we give prizes for what the kids do, not what the parents do. (The judges are asked to provide clear, copious notes in such situations.)
My parents "involvement" was narrowly focused. It was my job to learn; I had books. Mom took care of the house; Dad was a machinist and the both of them worked damn hard [they made that point perfectly clear]. If I didn't learn, it was my own fault. My parents didn't do my projects for me; that was my job. Learning math was my problem. If I didn't get good grades, there was hell to pay [that was their job, dishing out hell, and they were quite good at it].
That's exactly the way my family worked ands exactly what I had in mind. My father was also a machinist. My mother was a nurse. School was my job.
The problem comes about when the parents know the kid is goofing off and don't give a d**n. And it's not that uncommon. |
