I said: it’s sad they thought that kid had a bomb.
She said: they didn’t think he had a bomb.
I said: yes, they thought he made a bomb and even called the police.
She said: They just wanted to humiliate a little Muslim, African boy. They didn’t think he had a bomb.
I said: Don’t be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I’m sure they thought he had a bomb.
She said: Ok.
But they didn’t evacuate the school, like you do when there’s a bomb.
They didn’t call a bomb squad - like you do when there’s a bomb
They didn’t get as far away from him as possible - like you do when there’s a bomb.
Then they put him and the clock in an office- not like you do when there’s a bomb
Then they waited with him for the police to arrive.
Then they put the clock in the same car as the police.
Then they took pictures of it.
I said: Damn
I do agree that the school and police need to explain why they didn’t evacuate the school if they really thought it was real.
This isn’t a conspiracy. It’s not like they huddled and said, “hey, we know it’s not a bomb, but let’s just harass this innocent kid,” so why didn’t they evacuate?
<<<
And would they have been arrested? I’m guessing no.
<<<
she used the word “arrested,” but I don’t think they would have…but I’m not an airline employee, so I don’t know.
I know that my H was held in a HOT CELL at the airport for hours because of his hip replacement…this was the same day as that incident where they thought ten British planes might be bombed or something. He wasn’t allowed to call and the other person held with him only spoke French.
<< Given that you can’t bring a bottle of shampoo on a plane, I agree it’s not the best comparison. >>>
well, there have been cases of kids being expelled from school for drawing pics of guns of having pics of guns. I don’t think you’d be arrested at an airport if you had a gun magazine. A school might expel you.
[QUOTE=""]
They never thought he had a bomb.
<<<
[/QUOTE]
I agree that it looks weird that they didn’t evacuate…but are you thinking it was some sort of silent code of conspiracy? Some kind of silent group think?
Public schools have gone way overboard with their desire to over control. Wasn’t it just a short time ago that a kindergartener was taken away in handcuffs for misbehavior? She wasn’t a Muslim. A little boy suspended for giving a girl a kiss, or bringing a butter knife to apply cream cheese on a bagel.
However, I wonder if this young man was looking for this kind of attention. He seems quite smart, and not naive enough to be unaware that you really can’t bring this kind of object and plug it in, in the middle of class without asking the teacher. I cannot imagine my kids doing this kind of thing during class without permission, unless they were looking to create some sort of ruckus. And look at the attention he has now. He doesn’t appear too traumatized.
But the schools are out of control. They are idiots to handcuff and suspend him after they knew what it was.
He did not plug the clock in. It had its own internal battery power supply. The clock beeped in his backpack while he was in his English class, and that’s when he showed it to her.
I think they didn’t know what to do, and from what I read they thought it looked like a faux bomb. Obviously they didn’t think it was real. If they thought it was real, they would have called the bomb squad. Arresting him was over the top, and what brought all this attention to it. A mere suspension may have made the news, but I think it was the picture of the arrest that drew all the attention. You can’t bring faux guns to school, so I suppose no faux bombs either. I am willing to believe the kid wasn’t thinking about resemblance to a bomb if he is used to playing with circuit boards and wires. It’s plausible to me. Also, he is a kid, not a teacher or administrator who has to deal with threats to the school, so different perspective. And yes, I think he is on the spectrum. Not disabled,but on the spectrum. Also, he is 14, so has a long way to go as far a brain development in the area of judgment/common sense. Didn’t I read that the male brain aren’t done developing until 25, and that the rational part is the last thing to mature?
Okay so I just watched his interview on MSNBC. I dont know why folks are saying he seems to be on the spectrum. He doesnt at all to me. It broke my heart when he was asked. “how did it make you feel?” His answer, "It reminded him of the names he gets called in school, like “terrorist, etc”. This ticks me off so much. I cannot believe this child will now have a suspension on his record because of some xenophobic idiots! Not to mention, I hope they have grounds for a suit. He wasnt even allowed to contact his parents.
"On Thursday, Irving high school students said Ahmed has a reputation as a tinkerer and creator. He made small robotics, fixed people’s phones and assembled a remote that could turn on projectors at school, they said.
“I remember seeing him in middle school, and he used to always bring stuff,” said Sara Williams, 15. “He was just one of those kids that created stuff.”
So his history, is being creative. Not being trouble!
“Ahmed’s father emigrated from Sudan and twice ran for the presidency of that country.” Interesting!
"Cathie Adams, president of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum and former chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party, said Thursday that Ahmed’s clock looked suspicious and that authorities were right to act.
She said the boy was “pushing the envelope” and provoking a response. “Was he testing the system? And why?”
Pushing the envelope??!! Yes, and maybe he wanted to create havoc by randomly turning on/off school projectors with his homemade remote!
“I’m wondering why some are singling out “public schools”. Do you think a private school would have responded differently??”
To generalize—yes.
You don’t usually hear about these kind of overreactions at private schools. Private school teachers can easily be fired. Private schools want to please the parents, or they don’t get paid. Unhappy parents = less students = less money. There are generally far less kids in private schools, teachers know their students better, and give them far more individual attention.
My son’s public STEM school would not have had this reaction, maybe because it is only 1/3 Caucasian. Also, the kids are always plugging things in - laptops, cell phones, even engineering projects. Ahmed, with a homemade clock, would be just another kid.
Great article, CF. Label a curious kid a terrorist, a hacker, etc, and you will get a terrorist, a hacker, etc. Direct her activities towards something useful, and you will get a bright mind making a positive impact on the society.
I keep thinking about deciding to turn my kid brother in to my parents because he was using his Christmas chemistry set to make gun powder in the garage. Why? Just because he could. And he was 10 or so. He ended up with a couple of engineering degrees and an MBA. I don’t even think my folks took away the chemistry set. They did tell him he wasn’t allowed to do experiments that had the potential to destroy the house. And us.
It just seems like there are some obvious lessons here. One of which, in today’s environment where everyone is paranoid and you can’t bring a butter knife, draw a picture of a gun, or even use your finger as a gun at some schools----don’t bring something that looks like a bomb to school, and pack it around in your backpack. Can’t imagine his parents encouraging him to do that, though it seems like they should know what he was bringing to school. You can’t create something that could be taken for any sort of weapon, isn’t that obvious? Thank God he didn’t create an item that resembled a gun.
The police being called in when they knew it wasn’t a bomb was ridiculous, but even if a teenager didn’t have the smarts to realize he can’t bring something like that to school, it’s odd that his parents didn’t have the common sense to tell him not to.
