Word Nerd Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 This story is so ridiculous I don't even know where to start. 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ds told me about this case this morning. I told him that I thought that Ahmed and his parents have grounds for a good lawsuit. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberly in IN Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I agree with the OP. Practically speechless, no idea where to start. Wow. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 SCREEEEEEAAAAAAMMMMMM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Who looks at a clock and thinks it looks like a BOMB?!!!! A cartoon from 1982? Oh no, that's right! A screeching bigot does. God, that poor kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Any educator or LEO who takes that for a bomb is not fit for his or her job. 29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 This is why racial profiling is bad. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 It's ridiculous that he was handcuffed and led away at all. What's unconscionable is that the police still seem to think he might have had nefarious intent. According to the school's code of conduct, students aren't supposed to bring prohibited items to school. The definition of prohibited items is broad enough to include "Any articles not generally considered to be weapons, including school supplies, when the principal or designee determines that a danger exists." The principal got this one very wrong. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I have to say that in today's climate of mass school killings, that a teacher who didn't have the wherewithal to know exactly what the object was should have erred on the side of safety and reported it. (I wouldn't know, for instance.) So I don't fault the teacher. I do fault the police. They WERE aware that it was not a bomb and they charged him with making hoax bomb in the absence of any threat. THAT is egregious. And so very sad. It is very hard not to jump to the conclusion that had he been a nerdy (I mean that nicely) boy named Sam that there would have been no charges. I do hope that the charges are dropped, apologies are made, policies are changed, and some disciplinary measures are taken such as would happen in a lawsuit via monetary damages. 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 So they arrested every kid with a watch right? Or a cell phone. They need to get new freaking movies to base their prejudices on. A bomb. I'm sorry, no, "a possible device." Man. What a piece of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ridiculous. I would fully support a lawsuit by the parents. I do have to say that the #IStandwithAhmed thing seems sort of like overkill. I mean, who doesn't?!?! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Jeez. This is just unbelievably awful. And wtf was with that cop? Saying something like that was who he expected it to be when he saw Ahmed, even though he'd never seen him before? So what did he mean by that, "Yeah, I expected it to be a boy of Middle Eastern descent"? They should sue the school district and the police department for enough money to give this kid the best homeschool education anyone's ever gotten. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ridiculous. I would fully support a lawsuit by the parents. I do have to say that the #IStandwithAhmed thing seems sort of like overkill. I mean, who doesn't?!?! His own teachers, apparently. :( 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 It's really blowing up on Twitter, at least among the grad students. Apparently, a lot of now STEM majors have stories about being told that their science projects or ideas weren't acceptable for school for one reason or another, and a couple actually were suspended or given other school sanctions for bringing something they were proud of to school. Although no one has yet reported being arrested for it on the feeds I've seen. It's kind of too bad the kid isn't a high school senior this year. There are a lot of folks who are posting that they'd love to have him in their department on twitter. I'd imagine at least one or two of them would actually be able to follow through with a good scholarship offer. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 I have to say that in today's climate of mass school killings, that a teacher who didn't have the wherewithal to know exactly what the object was should have erred on the side of safety and reported it. (I wouldn't know, for instance.) So I don't fault the teacher. I blame the teacher who reported it, the principal, as well as the police. He had already shown his engineering teacher, and that should have been the end of it. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ridiculous. I would fully support a lawsuit by the parents. I do have to say that the #IStandwithAhmed thing seems sort of like overkill. I mean, who doesn't?!?! The school. His teacher. His principal. Local police... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 The one thing I fault the staff for is that I wish the engineering teacher, instead of telling a 14 yr old to keep it put away, had said "This is great-let me keep it in the room and show my classes today, and you can pick it up after school". It seems like the teacher had an idea that maybe it wouldn't be well received in that school's climate, and was trying to warn the child-but didn't go far enough in protecting the student. I suspect that once the principal was made aware, it fell under zero tolerance because it had been perceived to be a weapon-just like the kid who bites his toast into a gun and pretends to shoot kids does. 38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 There is a press conference going on now. They will not be pressing any charges. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ha! Why did I want to move from TX? See this shit right here? Exhibit A!! Poor kid. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 So sad. They have just managed to show this obviously bright, approval-seeking, trusting kid that the world is an ugly place. I'm so sad for him. 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I have to say that in today's climate of mass school killings, that a teacher who didn't have the wherewithal to know exactly what the object was should have erred on the side of safety and reported it. (I wouldn't know, for instance.) So I don't fault the teacher. I do fault the police. They WERE aware that it was not a bomb and they charged him with making hoax bomb in the absence of any threat. THAT is egregious. And so very sad. It is very hard not to jump to the conclusion that had he been a nerdy (I mean that nicely) boy named Sam that there would have been no charges. I do hope that the charges are dropped, apologies are made, policies are changed, and some disciplinary measures are taken such as would happen in a lawsuit via monetary damages. Twenty minutes from Newtown/Sandy Hook, here. I don't fault the teacher either. It's tragic that we live in such a world but we do. But it's awfully hard to understand, five periods and an explanatory conversation later, why the police felt that handcuffs were necessary, or interrogation without parents or counsel. And I truly, truly hope that the rumors about police pressing charges (as opposed to responding to a call, which would obviously be their job) for a "hoax bomb" are not true. ETA: Just saw TechWife's post re: not pressing charges. Good. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ugh. That's my hometown. Parents still live there. How embarrassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 They will not be pressing any charges. Why would they press charges now? They would look like bigger fools if they did. There are prominent people tweeting support for this child (Maker Faire identified this kid as a Maker and tweeted it's support). The school district and the police department are going to fund this kid right through college and beyond because the family is suing! The tragedy is that this is a state that allows people to openly carry guns and a minority boy with a STEM based project got arrested. 29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dmmetler Posted September 16, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2015 I think my favorite response was from the Raspberry Pi folks-who tweeted that if someone could send them the kids' address, they had a lot of dangerous looking components to send him :) 52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I do fault the police. They WERE aware that it was not a bomb and they charged him with making hoax bomb in the absence of any threat. It is very hard not to jump to the conclusion that had he been a nerdy (I mean that nicely) boy named Sam that there would have been no charges. I do hope that the charges are dropped, apologies are made, policies are changed, and some disciplinary measures are taken such as would happen in a lawsuit via monetary damages. There were never any charges made. Ever. He was arrested during an investigation, arrested does not mean charged. I think we should all react in a responsible manner, and that includes making sure our facts are straight. The police have since said they will not be filing charges. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzybluecheese Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Jeez. This is just unbelievably awful. And wtf was with that cop? Saying something like that was who he expected it to be when he saw Ahmed, even though he'd never seen him before? So what did he mean by that, "Yeah, I expected it to be a boy of Middle Eastern descent"? They should sue the school district and the police department for enough money to give this kid the best homeschool education anyone's ever gotten. Well, put a beard on him and he'd look just like Ted Kaczynskyi. :glare: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ha! Why did I want to move from TX? See this shit right here? Exhibit A!! Poor kid. This sort of thing happens all over the country because zero tolerance policies seem to also equal zero brains. I mean, a school in Maryland suspended a kid a few years ago for eating his pop tart into a gun shape and pretending to shoot with it. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm hoping that they take that suspension off of his school record. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 There were never any charges made. Ever. He was arrested during an investigation, arrested does not mean charged. I think we should all react in a responsible manner, and that includes making sure our facts are straight. The police have since said they will not be filing charges. I don't understand why there was even an investigation. I think almost anyone could look at a couple of circuit boards and a digital clock face and figure out that it's not a bomb. A bomb has to have something that will explode. Circuit boards do not explode. There is nothing to make them go boom. And after typing the words "bomb," "circuit board," and "boom," I'm sure the FBI is going to be monitoring me. :lol: 45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm hoping that they take that suspension off of his school record. That would, certainly, be the right thing to do. OTOH, if the school does not, Ahmed will, certainly, be able to get a Quality.College.App.Essay out of this episode, which should suffice as explanatory... :leaving: 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I don't understand why there was even an investigation. I think almost anyone could look at a couple of circuit boards and a digital clock face and figure out that it's not a bomb. A bomb has to have something that will explode. Circuit boards do not explode. There is nothing to make them go boom. And after typing the words "bomb," "circuit board," and "boom," I'm sure the FBI is going to be monitoring me. :lol: I don't think that people in general are educated about electronics anymore. These are the days of "no user serviceable parts inside." Technical education is also on the decline in public schools, making exposure even less likely. Generally speaking, people can become scared about what they don't understand. While many people understand how to use technology, I think many don't understand how the technology itself works or what it looks like. I think they were aware that it wasn't a bomb fairly quickly. There is no mention of either calling a bomb squad or evacuating the school. That certainly would have been done had they thought it was a bomb. They have stated that the question he was arrested over was his intent - did he intend for people to think it was a bomb? Was he trying to carry out a hoax? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 "He's vowed never to take an invention to school again." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 "He's vowed never to take an invention to school again." I think that it is OK - because the Engineering teacher never said anything appreciative and the other one called the cops and the FBI on him. What is the point of taking an invention to an educational institution that does not foster and respect learning? (... if he continues at that school, which is unlikely because there will be scholarship offers and recruitment drives from many private schools after this incident). 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 It's an awful thing that happened, but schools feel they have to react to any possible little situation now. If it had been something dangerous, and the school had done nothing, they would be liable for potentially much more harm. I hate it, but it's just the world we live in. I don't fault the teacher, but I do fault the handling by the police officers. The principal is probably required by law to report it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If the teachers at your child's school are so stupid they can't tell the difference between a BOMB and a clock, they are too stupid to be teaching just about anything. If the police in your town are so stupid they actually say crap like "though the kid told everyone who would listen it was a clock", he will be charged with "making a hoax bomb" - then for the love of God and country, don't give those fools a gun and uniform. And yet, people will send their kids to school tomorrow and the police will maybe get some paperwork to gripe about. *smh* 39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 This sort of thing happens all over the country because zero tolerance policies seem to also equal zero brains. I mean, a school in Maryland suspended a kid a few years ago for eating his pop tart into a gun shape and pretending to shoot with it. I agree, bigotry is endemic, but there are varying degrees of tolerance in different areas. Having lived in Dallas, Texas for 9 years, after spending 7 years in Philadelphia, PA, and growing up in in the D.C. area and later in North Carolina, all areas are not the same WRT the prevalence of racism, sexism, and bigotry in general. That said, I think schools in general are not particularly tolerant of anything or anybody who doesn't fit into the status quo. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I do fault the teachers and the principal. This isn't rocket science level deductive reasoning, nor a sign of the supposed terror of our times. Kid says it is a clock. Is it a clock? Why yes, yes, it is indeed a clock and not a bomb. Frikkin morons. The police must have graduated from the same school. 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Agree with all who find this rididiculous. Just wanted to add-- The school is going miss out on having a science competition finalist represent them. Or maybe they didn't want positive publicity. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I do fault the teachers and the principal. This isn't rocket science level deductive reasoning, nor a sign of the supposed terror of our times. So much fail. The engineering teacher seems to recognize that it is a clock, but warns him not to show it to anyone. Then the English teacher confiscates the clock when it beeps in class AND KEEPS IT WITH HER. If she thought it might in any way be a bomb, would she keep it in her classroom for the rest of the day? Then, the principal calls the cops, and suspends him for three days, but the original engineering teacher doesn't have the integrity to step in and say "Hey, this kid isn't doing anything wrong". 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 It's an awful thing that happened, but schools feel they have to react to any possible little situation now. If it had been something dangerous, and the school had done nothing, they would be liable for potentially much more harm. I hate it, but it's just the world we live in. I don't fault the teacher, but I do fault the handling by the police officers. The principal is probably required by law to report it. But..it's NOT dangerous! Anymore than any other digital clock. Why would the police be expected to know more about clocks than a school that teaches engineering classes? Shouldn't SOMEONE in the school know enough about science to idenify a freaking CLOCK???? 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I do fault the teachers and the principal. This isn't rocket science level deductive reasoning, nor a sign of the supposed terror of our times. Kid says it is a clock. Is it a clock? Why yes, yes, it is indeed a clock and not a bomb. Frikkin morons. The police must have graduated from the same school. Exactly! They have an engineering class, but NO ONE could identify it as a clock and not a bomb? 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Don't bombs have to be connected to you know..explosives? I think that's why they called it a "hoax bomb." It looked like a bomb minus the explosives so it obviously wasn't a real bomb. It kind of looks like a bomb like they have on some TV shows and movies. Kind of. If you squint. He never called it a bomb. He always said it was a clock. He never threatened anyone or even insinuated the thing he made could be used as anything other than a clock. The only conclusion that seems reasonable is he looks Middle Eastern and has a name that is typical of that area and so the teachers, principal, and police freaked out due to nothing but racism. I'm assuming this is a very smart kid and his teachers, if not the principal, know this and so shouldn't have been surprised that he made the clock like he did. He's been invited to the White House. So that's a pretty cool result of the whole thing. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 They called the kid a potential terrorist. That's what makes the whole thing reek. Not, hey, we mistook a clock for a chair. It's a "we think you will blow up our school." The actions of the school, from the police call, to the suspension, to the letter they sent home to parents encouraging racial profiling and turning in "suspicious behavior" make it clear what their intentions are.That is not okay. A mistake can be fixed. It can have a remedy. Demeaning and humiliating a child because you have nefarious thoughts can't be. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ahmed is lucky..he just found out the engineering class at his high school is a placebo. Instead of wasting his time there, he will get offers for scholarships to private high school, where he can learn the math, science, and computer programming that real engineers-to-be need. And nice to see he has an invite to meet POTUS. I am glad this story blew up (ha) in social media and hope he moves on to bigger and better things. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If the teachers at your child's school are so stupid they can't tell the difference between a BOMB and a clock, they are too stupid to be teaching just about anything. If the police in your town are so stupid they actually say crap like "though the kid told everyone who would listen it was a clock", he will be charged with "making a hoax bomb" - then for the love of God and country, don't give those fools a gun and uniform. And yet, people will send their kids to school tomorrow and the police will maybe get some paperwork to gripe about. *smh* That's how I feel when I hear the pop tart story. You let people that stupid have access to your children?? I would literally be outside with a sign, protesting stupid teachers. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 If the kid had come in saying, "I have a bomb." It would not matter what he had. It could look like he had nothing at all. And I would understand teachers not investigating whether he really had a bomb before reacting as though it was a bomb. In which case, all his teachers would be dead from the extreme stupid they seem to suffer, bc who the hell thinks something is dangerous as a bomb and puts in in the desk or calls the cops hours later instead of evacuating the school? But anyways... I digress and that isn't what happened. A kid came to school with a craft project to show off. He said it was a craft project, in this case a clock. He showed his clock. It looked like a clock. It ticked and it tocked and it buzzed like a clock. School and police department display crazy stupid the sky is falling Muslim clock bomb maker shenanigans. And again, if this had been a bomb? Still crazy stupid actions all around. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 They called the kid a potential terrorist. That's what makes the whole thing reek. Not, hey, we mistook a clock for a chair. It's a "we think you will blow up our school." The actions of the school, from the police call, to the suspension, to the letter they sent home to parents encouraging racial profiling and turning in "suspicious behavior" make it clear what their intentions are. That is not okay. A mistake can be fixed. It can have a remedy. Demeaning and humiliating a child because you have nefarious thoughts can't be. Exactly, exactly this. And their idiotic justifications compound the issue. "What if he left it under a car?" I dunno, dummies, what if unicorns are real and we're just in the matrix right now? Love people acting like it's NBD because he wasn't charged :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 You know what annoys me about the story? The police are called out as the bad guys. It is the dodo at his SCHOOL that called the police in the first place. That person is almost completely ignored in the story and isn't even named. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 You know what annoys me about the story? The police are called out as the bad guys. It is the dodo at his SCHOOL that called the police in the first place. That person is almost completely ignored in the story and isn't even named. Any given story can have more than one dumb dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I blame the teacher who reported it, the principal, as well as the police. He had already shown his engineering teacher, and that should have been the end of it. Can you tell me why you would blame the teacher since it was not his engineering teacher who might have known? What if it was his English teacher who had no clue? If it looked like some of the gadgetry from his home that was pictured in photos, I wouldn't know how it worked. (If it looked like a regular old clock, none of this is relevant. But we haven't seen photos of it yet. I am imagining a homemade digital clock doesn't necessarily look like an encased digital clock would look) How would the teacher know to check with the engineering teacher? Wouldn't that be the principal's job? Note: I am not blaming the student at all. I just think there is some reason for teachers to be cautious in our times given all the massacres that have occurred at schools. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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