Nerdy 14 year old brings homemade clock to school and is arrested

[philip964]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/communit ... school.ece

Irving, Texas.

Tough when your name is Mohamed and you like to tinker with electronics.

[Taypo]

Ouch.

I feel bad for the poor kid, but I can't say as the response wasnt justified.

[JALLEN]

Ouch.

I feel bad for the poor kid, but I can't say as the response wasnt justified.

I can, and will.

This is nuts.

As a long time nerd who was a licensed amateur radio operator at age 13, and had built some of my station, I think his treatment was utterly appalling, reminiscent of the morons who touched off the preschool abuse cases recently referred to here. Idiots with degrees! If any of them had a brain in their head, this would have been checked out and ignored. In the past, this would have have a decent science fair project, the kid would be congratulated and looked up to. If his name was William Jones, it might still be.

If that is what the school is up to, just close them all and give vouchers for parents to use as they see fit. Public schools are a waste of money, a baby sitting service for prepubescent kids, a dating service for post pubescent kids.

Shame!

[LSUTiger]

The response, while not surprising, was totally unjustified. Clearly no one involved, other than the engineering teacher and the student knows spit from shinola.

The whole incident is just ridiculous.

"He showed it to his engineering teacher first thing Monday morning and didn’t get quite the reaction he’d hoped for.

“He was like, ‘That’s really nice,’” Ahmed said. “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’”"

Sounds like the engineering teacher could have easily cleared this up and avoided the whole incident.

A clock circuit board is hardly a bomb. A $10 alarm clock from Wal-Mart could be used as a timing device for a bomb. So because I have an alarm clock, I have a bomb making component?

I'm sure an Iphone could be used as a timing or GPS location device for a bomb. Absent, explosives, trigger devices or other obvious configuration to make it into or look like a bomb then what's the big deal?

I'm sure if these dumb dumb cops took apart the laptops in their cruisers they would find circuit boards that look very similar. So if you own a laptop, do you have bomb making components? Or a hoax bomb?

Everyday most of us carry sufficient electronic devices to use as a bomb making component.

In my profession, I've hand carried more sophisticated pieces of electronics and other hardware to job sites that could be mistaken for a bomb in my carry on or checked in luggage and have made through the TSA and multiple international check points with out a problem.

People are losing their damn minds. This is slippery slope stuff if it goes any further than an over reaction.

[Taypo]

OK, I understand where you guys are coming from. Maybe I'm profiling, maybe I'm just a jerk but if my kid came home from school and told me a kid named Mohammed showed off a box full of circuit boards and a clock I'd be a bit concerned.

[Pawpaw]

Ouch.

I feel bad for the poor kid, but I can't say as the response wasnt justified.

I can, and will.

This is nuts.

As a long time nerd who was a licensed amateur radio operator at age 13, and had built some of my station, I think his treatment was utterly appalling, reminiscent of the morons who touched off the preschool abuse cases recently referred to here. Idiots with degrees! If any of them had a brain in their head, this would have been checked out and ignored. In the past, this would have have a decent science fair project, the kid would be congratulated and looked up to. If his name was William Jones, it might still be.

If that is what the school is up to, just close them all and give vouchers for parents to use as they see fit. Public schools are a waste of money, a baby sitting service for prepubescent kids, a dating service for post pubescent kids.

Shame!

I would've been arrested 4 or 5 times a year if my teachers had been idiots like his are.

What moron can't tell the difference between a clock and a bomb? The lack of anything resembling an explosive should be one clue.

[Taypo]

Ouch.

I feel bad for the poor kid, but I can't say as the response wasnt justified.

I can, and will.

This is nuts.

As a long time nerd who was a licensed amateur radio operator at age 13, and had built some of my station, I think his treatment was utterly appalling, reminiscent of the morons who touched off the preschool abuse cases recently referred to here. Idiots with degrees! If any of them had a brain in their head, this would have been checked out and ignored. In the past, this would have have a decent science fair project, the kid would be congratulated and looked up to. If his name was William Jones, it might still be.

If that is what the school is up to, just close them all and give vouchers for parents to use as they see fit. Public schools are a waste of money, a baby sitting service for prepubescent kids, a dating service for post pubescent kids.

Shame!

I would've been arrested 4 or 5 times a year if my teachers had been idiots like his are.

What moron can't tell the difference between a clock and a bomb? The lack of anything resembling an explosive should be one clue.

How many school shootings occurred when you were in school? How many terrorist bombings were there?

I dont know much about teachers other than what I read these days, but you're comfortable with one making a determination as to whether or not something is explosive. I wish I had that kind of faith in them.

[Beiruty]

Ridiculous and the kid should not have been punished for 3 days! What is wrong with people those days. The kid commit not crime or anything illegal. Oh! my Lord, we have stupid educators.

[VMI77]

Ouch.

I feel bad for the poor kid, but I can't say as the response wasnt justified.

I can, and will.

This is nuts.

As a long time nerd who was a licensed amateur radio operator at age 13, and had built some of my station, I think his treatment was utterly appalling, reminiscent of the morons who touched off the preschool abuse cases recently referred to here. Idiots with degrees! If any of them had a brain in their head, this would have been checked out and ignored. In the past, this would have have a decent science fair project, the kid would be congratulated and looked up to. If his name was William Jones, it might still be.

If that is what the school is up to, just close them all and give vouchers for parents to use as they see fit. Public schools are a waste of money, a baby sitting service for prepubescent kids, a dating service for post pubescent kids.

Shame!

However, I think you're looking at the purpose of the public school system from the wrong perspective. Their ostensible purpose is education and from that perspective they're actually worse than a waste of money. However, they're part of the left's long game and their primary purpose is actually political indoctrination and obedience training, and from that perspective they're a pretty good investment.

[treadlightly]

In High School I tinkered with ham radio and electronics in general. I built a clock that displayed the time in binary from a schematic I drew myself. I used more wire-wrap wire than the Ten-in-Texas ranch used barb wire. I have hand wired many, many eight bit microprocessor gizmos of my own design. Without asking first I would bet somebody on this forum has used devices containing my firmware or my digital design.

I let therefore my wirewrap tool be the constant companion of my walks in my youth.

A bomb has wires and switches. The principal's car and the cop's squad car have wires and switches and in fact both contain suspicious reservoirs of toxic, explosive fluids that have NO PLACE in the classroom.

I'm not accusing the principal or the police of deploying bombs at Irving schools.I'm just saying they have deployed mechanisms with similar attributes. We can't be too safe. Can't be. Handcuffs for the administration, please?

It sounds like somebody needs to reach out to that kid with some serious attaboys.

[JALLEN]

I just hope he doesn't want to take flying lessons. There were some Arabic teenagers taking flying lessons in San Diego who were, ahhh, discouraged, and frankly treated like a bunch of Japanese Americans in WWII about 14 years ago.

Many feel we have gone way past the Salem Witch trials, but until people start being willing to use their heads, this stupidity will persist.

[VMI77]

People are losing their darn minds. This is slippery slope stuff if it goes any further than an over reaction.

Good thing he didn't try to make a 3D printer, he'd be in Gitmo now for having nuclear bomb making material.

[JALLEN]

However, I think you're looking at the purpose of the public school system from the wrong perspective. Their ostensible purpose is education and from that perspective they're actually worse than a waste of money. However, they're part of the left's long game and their primary purpose is actually political indoctrination and obedience training, and from that perspective they're a pretty good investment.

I have no quarrels with that.

I have long advocated closing the schools. Private organizations would spring up to offer education that parents could chose in the marketplace, everything from Rhodes Scholar prep to hog butchering, and if they didn't deliver, they would "take their business elsewhere."

I haven't figured out how to handle Friday night football, yet.

[JALLEN]

This seems to be the applicable statute:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly manufactures, sells, purchases, transports, or possesses a hoax bomb with intent to use the hoax bomb to:
(1) make another believe that the hoax bomb is an explosive or incendiary device; or
(2) cause alarm or reaction of any type by an official of a public safety agency or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

- See more at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/ ... f7Uuc.dpuf

[puma guy]

Ridiculous and the kid should not have been punished for 3 days! What is wrong with people those days. The kid commit not crime or anything illegal. Oh! my Lord, we have stupid educators.

IMHO We're to the point that authorities make it up as they go along.