College is the time of life to make stupid mistakes. They sometimes prevent adults from later repeating similar mistakes in their homes, workplaces and communities, where understanding – and forgiveness – aren’t as forthcoming.

Monday, some definite stupid stuff showed up on the Pullman campus of Washington State University. Fliers were stuffed into the campus newspaper, the Daily Evergreen, without the consent or knowledge of staffers.

The fliers depicted a swastika fashioned from Legos.

According to the Daily Evergreen, art students were supposed to create a “subversive advertising project” and place the subversive ads where they would be most effective.

The art instructor defended the student who created the swastika out of Legos. The student, according to the instructor, was not promoting hate or racism. Instead, “the ad was supposed to represent how prevalent the Lego brand has become, with the swastika as a manifestation of an empire.”

There are some real-life “takeaways” from this unfortunate incident.

 Be careful with your symbols.

College art students should follow their creativity wherever it leads them. But using explosive symbols for shock value sacrifices the deeper meaning of the work. Who could have guessed the swastikas were about the Lego brand? The brutish symbol overwhelmed the piece.

 Free speech allows for stupidity.

A swastika is highly offensive, but the art student could use it without threat of imprisonment because the Constitution allows men and women to freely express views that others find offensive. So neo-Nazis march in parades, and people set flags on fire. These actions are often ugly and stupid. But in our free country they are legal.

 Don’t blow things out of proportion.

To their credit, Daily Evergreen staffers did not sensationalize the incident or try to link it to reports of hate crimes on campus. They did their research on exactly what happened and then wrote a level-headed editorial explaining the fliers to readers.

Editors denounced the message of the swastika flier and the method in which it was distributed. Then they reminded readers that “we maintain several avenues (letters to the editor, guest commentaries and an open-door policy) for members of the WSU community to have their opinions heard. …We encourage readers to participate in the appropriate avenues of open communication, instead of these back-alley methods.”

In college, young people can practice a most important skill. They can apologize. When the stupid stuff happens, they can say: “We’re sorry and it won’t happen again.” And if the lessons are truly learned, it won’t.