Really, Clock = Bomb? :rolleyes:

[BlackWorksInc]

Ahmed Mohamed: No charges for boy, 14, arrested over clock - BBC News

For those of you who haven't heard... a rather bright young fellow decided to build his own clock and show his engineering teacher at school what he made. Another teacher saw it, thought "bomb" and then the kid is in handcuffs being interrogated (which the police chief said the boy wouldn't go into any more detail besides "it's a clock" because you really need more details than that?)

Look, I get that the thing looks a bit weird and it beeps...

But how the hell does it go from "that looks like a bomb" ditzy teacher to throwing a 9th grader in cuffs and interrogating him like a terrorist?

Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt there's plans to use children in terrorist attacks; there's some sick people out there. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do our due diligence... but at what point did it become okay to I dunno go from, maybe doubling checking with the engineering teacher and call the principal in vs. lets get the kid fitted for GitMo?

This screams of blatant racism at this point...

Opinions & thoughts?

 

[T4R2014]

With the misinformation and paranoia in this country, it was bound to happen.

 

[Park]

This story may be an example of stereotypes in this country, but I would rather hear about this, over some high school getting bombed. If we need to air on the side of caution to protect the American people so be it! This kid is no worse for wear

 

[BlackWorksInc]

This story may be an example of stereotypes in this country, but I would rather hear about this, over some high school getting bombed. If we need to air on the side of caution to protect the American people so be it! This kid is no worse for wear

I wouldn't say that exactly, we don't know how he was treated while in custody; they could have pushed a bit too hard and developed mental scars that may hurt him down the line (a silly notion you might think, but PTSD is not that hard to ingrain in people.)

That being said, I'm all up for keeping everyone safe. My point is more that was blown way out of proprotion, why did the cops need to be involved in the first place? The teacher should have isolated the student, isolated the item, contacted the principal who at that point would probably talk to the student and find out that the engineering teacher would vouch for him. That situation could have been entirely avoided if they asked the kid what it was and if anyone could vouch for him, I mean he brought it to show the engineering teacher for ****'s sake. At that point the principal should be the one to make the call if the authorities need to be brought in (and rightfully so if he/she feels it is/will be a danger to the school.)

Instead, we've wasted the police's time, made them look like bigots, wasted tax payer money and LEO resources (looks like they had the bomb squad poke a hole in it from the looks of the lid,) blemished the school's reputation, all because some teacher got scared of the nerdy middle eastern kid with a beeping clock.

And lets be honest, if this kid was white; it would never have involved the cops and would be a funny footnote on Yahoo News.

Post Note-

I foresee a very large lawsuit against the school & police department following this incident and a well deserved settlement for the family.

 

[T4R2014]

But his name is Ahmed! Can't trust that.

 

[Millerad1651]

What gets me is the fact that they handcuffed the kid for "his and the officer's safety". In who's mind is this unarmed kid that weighs all of 80lbs a threat to any officer while sitting in the principal's office?!?!

The police finally dropped charges, but he was still suspended for 3 days!

 

[Sisente]

Grade school kids get sent home for making a gun shape using their hands. Another kid got suspended for making a gun out of a pop tart. There is 0 common sense in 0 tolerance schools.

 

[02SE]

It looks like the kid just took an Alarm Clock and remove it's original housing, and put it in a case. Not exactly Mr. Wizard stuff.

On the other hand, how many times have we heard about young people in this Country, that have attempted to join isis. So in that light, I can understand some of the concern.

 

[JayceeP]

I never knew what it looked like until now. I think anyone would be suspicious of a briefcase with various wires and parts inside. Can't really give an opinion on the arrest but I could see how it could have been a huge overreaction but also easily see how it could have been an appropriate response. I saw on one news report the kid was questioned about it and he wasn't really upfront about what it was...

 

[amalik]

[MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] and others, minus the short term humiliation to his family, this whole episode was a blessing in disguise for the kid. The list I've seen so far that have reached out to him is Twitter, box, the white house, Facebook, and Google.

To me, looks like kid has his future set.

 

[Range]

At least that "looks" like something. What about those poor children who got suspended for making a f'king pop tart look like a gun....... I wouldn't blame any father for mouth raping a principal who suspended my son for something that stupid.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

It looks like the kid just took an Alarm Clock and remove it's original housing, and put it in a case. Not exactly Mr. Wizard stuff.

On the other hand, how many times have we heard about young people in this Country, that have attempted to join isis. So in that light, I can understand some of the concern.

Supposedly he built it himself, but yeah; it looks like a basic 120v clock.

[MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] and others, minus the short term humiliation to his family, this whole episode was a blessing in disguise for the kid. The list I've seen so far that have reached out to him is Twitter, box, the white house, Facebook, and Google.

To me, looks like kid has his future set.

I am glad that it is working out in the end for him, it's nice to see that some mistakes end in good news. It was very nice of President Obama to invite him to the White House.

[MENTION=92682]JayceeP[/MENTION]

From the clip I saw of the police chief talking, it was basically; "we're interrogating the suspect, but all he's stated is that it is a clock and no further details." Not entirely sure what else they want to know? Quartz movement or Atomic? Simply 120v to 5v AC/DC converter, does it do multiple timezones?

 

[LandCruiser]

Thank God he didn't shape a Pop Tart into a shape vaguely resembling a pistol. Then the school would be put on lockdown, he'd be taken down by SWAT, expelled, put into three years' of therapy, his parents' guns would be confiscated and maybe one or both would spend time in jail...

The worst punishment, though, would be eating dinner with the Obamas.

 

[JayceeP]

[MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION], I was referring to before the police were called. Apparently the kids lack of clarity is why the school called the police. The clip was brief. I'm not def ending anything. All I am saying is it's very easy to see how it could have gone either way.

 

[KidVermicious]

Do you want evil super geniuses? Because this is how you get evil super geniuses.

 

[ben550]

Grade school kids get sent home for making a gun shape using their hands. Another kid got suspended for making a gun out of a pop tart. There is 0 common sense in 0 tolerance schools.

At least that "looks" like something. What about those poor children who got suspended for making a f'king pop tart look like a gun....... I wouldn't blame any father for mouth raping a principal who suspended my son for something that stupid.

Thank God he didn't shape a Pop Tart into a shape vaguely resembling a pistol. Then the school would be put on lockdown, he'd be taken down by SWAT, expelled, put into three years' of therapy, his parents' guns would be confiscated and maybe one or both would spend time in jail...

The worst punishment, though, would be eating dinner with the Obamas.

Do you want evil super geniuses? Because this is how you get evil super geniuses.

Yep everyone grossly overreacted to the situation (sarcasm).

I think they acted just fine. Do you really want kids walking into school with metal brief cases full or wires and beeping mechanisms becoming the norm? Because we all know that a 9th grader is incapable of doing bad things... Ninth-grader fatally shot by classmate at Alabama school - CNN.com

Oh by the way 10,000 plus young "refugees" will be coming to our school systems across the country this year. Some of these kids could be in class with ours? You want them to be allowed to bring "homemade clocks" to school too?

What this child did was completely innocent however he was suspended and was transferred to a different school as a result of his pop tart... "Pop Tart" suspension should be upheld, school official says - CBS News

 

[ndcent]

In a country where 1 in 5 Americans think the President of the United States is some kind of secret muslim, no level of stupidity is really surprising anymore.

 

[ben550]

In a country where 1 in 5 Americans think the President of the United States is some kind of secret muslim, no level of stupidity is really surprising anymore.

Isn't that crazy... I wonder what actions could be fueling those ridiculous thoughts?

 

[ndcent]

Isn't that crazy... I wonder what actions could be fueling those ridiculous thoughts?

Surely it's not his pro-choice, pro-womens's rights, beer drinking, bacon eating or LGBT supporting actions fueling that ridiculous thought.

 

[cashmoney]

There was an article in the paper about a year ago about an honor student and eagle scout who had gone bird hunting the day before school and left his gun in his car. When we got to school on Monday and realized that he went straight to his principal and told them about it and asked to call his parents to come and retrieve it. They promptly arrested the kid, threw him in jail, and kicked him out of school. Last I heard he was facing felony charges for bringing a gun to campus. Oh, the kid was white.

People these days have a shoot first ask questions later mentality. There's a line from the original Men In Black movie that sums up the human species quite well: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals.