I DON'T KNOW
#1


I didn't know where to put this or even what to call it but I did want y'all to read about it, I'm interested in reading what you think about this.

There are a ton of tweets after the story. If you're concerned with clicking on my link, google the kid's name and the story should come right up.

A 14-year-old Muslim boy has been arrested in North Texas after a high school teacher decided that a homemade clock he brought to class could be a bomb.

Ahmed Mohamed, who enjoys tinkering with electronics, proudly took the clock to MacArthur High in Irving on Monday.

But one teacher raised concerns that it looked like a bomb, prompting the school principal and several police officers to question him, search his belongings and march him from the school in handcuffs.

Police don't believe the device is dangerous, but say it could be mistaken for a fake explosive.

Mohamed was suspended from school for three days, but he has not been charged.


Story
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#2
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
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#3
Would the teacher have expressed the same concern if the student were Christian? Or Jewish? Just asking.
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#4
I remember when we brought teachers apples.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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#5
It's not quite as inane as suspending little kids for making a gun with their fingers or out of a pop tart, but (if we're getting the full story), it ranks right up there.

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Ahmed ^ is into engineering and part of a robotics class. He brought the homemade clock to school; lots of kids brought their projects. The clock alarm went off in English class and the teacher called police because the device looked like it could be a bomb. That's my understanding.

Up to that point, I don't think there's a problem with the school erring on the side of extreme caution. And, if he somehow violated a formal school policy which calls for a three day suspension, it's kind of harsh, but I don't see his rights being violated there either.

What I don't understand is why the cops cuffed him, arrested him and considered charging him with bringing a "hoax bomb" to school when there was never any indication that was his intent.

(Police just announced they won't be filing charges.)
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#6
(09-16-2015, 01:48 PM)Maggot Wrote: I remember when we brought teachers apples.


In today's world, an apple with a marble size C4 explosive could be in it, with the stem as the fuse! Sad, but true, they never know, it's a possible reality. hah

Anyway, it's good to be cautious, but after "they" found out what the whole issue was about, "they" grossly over reacted !!
Can a law suit (justified) be far behind?
Carsman: Loves Living Large
Home is where you're treated the best, but complain the most!
Life is short, make the most of it, get outta here!

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#7
From what I read it was a project that he was asked to do in his engineering class. Apparently the the engineer teacher he showed it to first didn't think it was a bomb. So I don't see how he violated school policy.
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#8
(09-16-2015, 01:48 PM)Maggot Wrote: I remember when we brought teachers apples.


Yeah but it's not an apple. It's a project he had been working on and brought to school to show his teacher. Is it unusual for a kid to want to do that?
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#9
I don't think he should have been arrested but am kinda glad they checked it out. They could have called the parents and probably did. Sometimes these stories get blown out of proportion fairly fast.

Getting suspended for 3 days will be a badge of honor with the other kids I bet.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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#10
Maybe the school should check their policies in that case. If they don't want kids making things that beep and tick maybe they shouldn't have a robotics class.
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#11
This definitely got blown out of proportion, but I don't blame the school for being cautious about a suitcase like device with a digital counter (clock) on it. I think the kid could have been brown, purple, white, or rainbow colored and they would have acted the same.

From a police perspective, they were probably thinking it was likely nothing... but in this day and age what if it wasn't? What if the kid had put a propane tank somewhere, and was going to connect the suitcase clock to it later? Securing him and asking him questions doesn't seem overtly inappropriate to me.

The story surrounding it seems more of an overreaction than the actual event.
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#12


I have big mixed feelings about this. I know that sorta thing
has got to be checked out in this day & age but I also think it's a damn shame that an obviously smart kid who appears to enjoy learning was put through this crap. What the hell is he suspended for is what I keep asking myself. I'm torn!
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#13
(09-16-2015, 02:55 PM)sally Wrote: Maybe the school should check their policies in that case. If they don't want kids making things that beep and tick maybe they shouldn't have a robotics class.

I think the problem was showing it outside of the engineering lab because it could qualify as a "suspicious looking device" to a lay person. And, it did.

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Ahmed said he brought the clock, which he had fashioned with a digital face in an inexpensive box, to school on Monday to show to an engineering teacher, who said it was “nice” but then told him that he should not show the invention to other teachers.

But when it beeped during an English class, Ahmed revealed the device to his English teacher, according to an account in The Dallas Morning News. “She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said. Ahmed reportedly told her, "it doesn't look like a bomb to me, it looks like a clock."


He's 14. This part bothers me most: He said he was fingerprinted, and mug shots were taken at a juvenile detention center. He was not allowed to call his parents but was released when they came to get him.

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/us/tex....html?_r=0
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#14
(09-16-2015, 03:08 PM)Jimbone Wrote: This definitely got blown out of proportion, but I don't blame the school for being cautious about a suitcase like device with a digital counter (clock) on it. I think the kid could have been brown, purple, white, or rainbow colored and they would have acted the same.

From a police perspective, they were probably thinking it was likely nothing... but in this day and age what if it wasn't? What if the kid had put a propane tank somewhere, and was going to connect the suitcase clock to it later? Securing him and asking him questions doesn't seem overtly inappropriate to me.

The story surrounding it seems more of an overreaction than the actual event.

I'm not afraid to profile and I would have isolated the child and called the parents in. Hell they could of just said "Kid........keep that outside for a sec. They were all chicken as far as I can see.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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#15
(09-16-2015, 03:19 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:
(09-16-2015, 02:55 PM)sally Wrote: Maybe the school should check their policies in that case. If they don't want kids making things that beep and tick maybe they shouldn't have a robotics class.

I think the problem was showing it outside of the engineering lab because it could qualify as a "suspicious looking device" to a lay person. And, it did.

[Image: texas-muslim-student-clock.jpg]

Ahmed said he brought the clock, which he had fashioned with a digital face in an inexpensive box, to school on Monday to show to an engineering teacher, who said it was “nice” but then told him that he should not show the invention to other teachers.

But when it beeped during an English class, Ahmed revealed the device to his English teacher, according to an account in The Dallas Morning News. “She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said. Ahmed reportedly told her, "it doesn't look like a bomb to me, it looks like a clock."


He's 14. This part bothers me most: He said he was fingerprinted, and mug shots were taken at a juvenile detention center. He was not allowed to call his parents but was released when they came to get him.

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/us/tex....html?_r=0

So the engineering teacher said it was nice but don't show it to other teachers? WTF was the kid supposed to do when it started beeping and the English teacher asked what that noise is? I see this as the school's failure to follow policy, not his. If it was going to cause a problem the engineer teacher should have said to keep the project in his classroom and pick it up after school.

I'm failing to see why the kid should be punished when a teacher at that school assigned the project and accepted the project.
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#16
^ Yeah, I thought the same thing, sal. If the Engineering teacher foresaw it being a potential problem, he should have asked Ahmed to store the device in the engineering lab or something (though I'm sure the Engineering teacher didn't imagine what would happen next).

As more information is being released, I get a sense there may be a little more to the incident than meets the eye.

Snip:
"I wanted to start clean with the teacher by showing him my inventions and stuff," Ahmed said. (HOTD: that just strikes me as a weird comment, like he knew he was gonna be causing a problem.)

Irving police released a report Tuesday that lists three MacArthur High teachers as complainants against the teen on the charge of “hoax bomb.” Irving Police Officer James McLellan said school officials simply thought the device was suspicious and acted out of caution.

"Clearly, there were disassembled clock parts in there, but he offered no more explanation than that," McLellan said. "A lot of these details that the family and he have provided to you were not shared with us yesterday. He was very much less than forthcoming." (HOTD: I hope those investigators taped that interrogation.) McLellan said the police investigation is not completed.

Irving Independent School District spokeswoman Lesley Weaver said Tuesday their main focus was student safety. "We are never going to take any chances for any of their safety," she said. "It doesn't matter what child would have brought a suspicious looking item. We still would have taken the same actions."

"If the family is willing to give us written permission, we would be happy to share with the public the other side of the story so they can understand the actions we took," she said.


Full story: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Irving-...94401.html
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So far, the accounts of what happened at the school are coming from Ahmed and his family. They may be completely accurate and unbiased, but I would like to hear the Engineering teacher's account and the English teacher's account as well.

I don't personally suspect Ahmed of anything nefarious, but do suspect he might have invited more suspicion than necessary in how he responded to the English teacher and the cops.

I'd like to hear the full story from both sides.
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#17
So this is the reason the President tweeted for the kid to bring the clock to the White House. I can always rely on Mock to get the news! : D

Would someone that is planning on blowing something up later bring in the device first for show and tell? Perhaps.

This is another reason I keep saying "Home school" in my mind if I ever did have children, which I don't so I am thankful I don't have to deal with these issues.

Schools decisions and over reactions leave me going "WTF" lately.
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#18
You guys act like every teacher knows what the kids will be doing from one day to the next. Its not that easy. And the kid was just doing what he thought was the right thing. Shit happens in todays world that drives the caution flag. What if it was a bomb? I would rather see caution than see mayhem and this is the result of it.
I foresee the suspension being dropped. And WTF is Obama doing sticking his stupid nose in this? Its not like people aren't already questioning his motives in foreign policy. For the life of me I cannot imagine another thing that he should be staying away from.
That is unless some egghead thinks that after the fact cheerleading is warranted. And it has some crazy point other than sensationalism and plagiarism that fits some stupid agenda.

Something to take peoples minds off the real issues is what I see.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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#19
A whole lot of stupid as far as I have seen. The teachers over reacted in a big way. Sure in today's environment dragging a home made clock looking gizmo around school might not be a good idea and the engineering teacher should have known that. But then on the other hand the kid never claimed it was a bomb. Did he leave it sitting around unattended so that it looked suspicious? He did in fact claim it was just a clock he made for class, and the engineering teacher backed that story. It should have stopped right there.
And No, I do not think it would have been blown into such a big deal if the kid would have been white and named Ricky Smith.
And the fucking president damn sure should not have had his nose in it, he is supposed to be running a fucking country
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#20
I did see this on the news here. Look, the US has been through a lot. It is better to air on the side of caution. I would rather that they over reacted and everyone is safe, than do nothing and then you are talking about a whole lot of children who are unsafe.

Let's face it, how many muslim inventors do you know? They are certainly rare! They have to take responsibility for creating this hypervigiliance too. Carry on.
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