# RO: This is totally going to kill Bring Your Clock to School Day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454 "2015-09-16T08:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/541 "2015-09-21T23:17:23Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > You both are being disingenuous or willfully obtuse. Said teacher _told Ahmed not to show it to any other teachers!_ If no warning bells went off with this guy, and he just thought “cool, nice clock”, why would he say this? Until he answers that - we don’t know - but clearly the bells were not so loud to him, or he would have confiscated it or alerted someome else, or any other number of possible outcomes. If Ahmed had intended to use it as a “hoax bomb” - he would have been pretty stupid to show it to another adult that would be able to quickly identify the hoaxer. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/542 "2015-09-21T23:23:26Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Until he answers that - we don’t know - but clearly the bells were not so loud to him, or he would have confiscated it or alerted someome else, or any other number of possible outcomes. Or he might have done exactly what he did, because he liked Ahmed, didn’t want to escalate it, but thought he could just handle it quietly by cautioning Ahmed to put it away and not take it out again until he went home. > [@simster](#): > > If Ahmed had intended to use it as a “hoax bomb” - he would have been pretty stupid to show it to another adult that would be able to quickly identify the hoaxer. My theory is that he and his publicity-hound dad \*wanted \*him to be identified. You can’t gin up publicity and get reporters on your lawn chowing on Domino’s Pizza if you’re anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/543 "2015-09-21T23:26:32Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Or he might have done exactly what he did, because he liked Ahmed, didn’t want to escalate it, but thought he could just handle it quietly by cautioning Ahmed to put it away and not take it out again until he went home. > > My theory is that he and his publicity-hound dad \*wanted \*him to be identified. You can’t gin up publicity and get reporters on your lawn chowing on Domino’s Pizza if you’re anonymous. The voices in your head must be loud these days… ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/544 "2015-09-21T23:26:55Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Just because something is not the norm does not mean it is reasonable to assume that it is a bomb. Is this the first time you have ever seen a briefcase or briefcase-like box containing a prominent LCD displaying a time? Was the first time you saw such a device a bomb in a movie or TV show? Is this the first time you have seen such a device which _wasn’t_ a bomb in a movie or TV show? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/545 "2015-09-21T23:29:47Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Is this the first time you have ever seen a briefcase or briefcase-like box containing a prominent LCD displaying a time? Was the first time you saw such a device a bomb in a movie or TV show? Is this the first time you have seen such a device which _wasn’t_ a bomb in a movie or TV show? I’ve never seen an actual bomb that had a large digital display. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/546 "2015-09-21T23:32:11Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Or he might have done exactly what he did, because he liked Ahmed, didn’t want to escalate it, but thought he could just handle it quietly by cautioning Ahmed to put it away and not take it out again until he went home. If he had liked ahmed, and feared any of the other possible outcomes (or the one that specifically happened) - he would have kept it to help prevent them. It’s much more likely that he said “not to show it” as to prevent any distractions (good or bad) from it - other teachers are english, not science, etc - similar to anytime someone might have brought something from home “to show” that was “kinda cool”. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > My theory is that he and his publicity-hound dad \*wanted \*him to be identified. You can’t gin up publicity and get reporters on your lawn chowing on Domino’s Pizza if you’re anonymous. well, your theory has more holes in it than an undead zombie - and doesn’t fit with any of the available data. I have sincere doubts that any person in this country, Muslim or otherwise, would want to be labeled as a “potential terrorist” just for “attention”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/547 "2015-09-21T23:39:26Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ve never seen an actual bomb that had a large digital display. I’ve never seen an actual bomb, period,. Which I suspect is true for the vast majority of people. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/548 "2015-09-21T23:53:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’ve never seen an actual bomb, period,. Which I suspect is true for the vast majority of people. I’ve seen many. And, as has been stated many times in this and other threads, the essential part of a bomb is the explosive. Without that it’s just a timer, or a fuse. So, even people who get all their education from TV fiction should recognize that what he had was just a clock - and, in fact, everyone did. Now, if you want to say that a clock is a hoax bomb, I’m OK with that, as long as this standard is well-advertised, and includes all other potential bomb detonation devices, such as cell phones and cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/549 "2015-09-22T00:08:10Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Now, if you want to say that a clock is a hoax bomb, I’m OK with that, as long as this standard is well-advertised, and includes all other potential bomb detonation devices, such as cell phones and cigarettes. You’re missing the point. You have seen cell phones and cigarettes _which were not detonators_ - many times, I imagine. A hoax or bomb scare is about perception, which means that a real detonator that is not perceived as being a detonator (because a person looking at a cell phone thinks it is a cell phone) is not going to cause the same reaction as a not-bomb that is perceived as being a bomb (because it conforms to the stereotype created by film and TV of what a bomb looks like). ---
**Author:** ![Alkash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Alkash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alkash)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/550 "2015-09-22T00:17:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Wow, you’re right. Obama should have acted with due deliberation, careful not to rush to judgment or to accuse someone of wrongdoing before he had evidence. Perhaps he could take lessons from a certain principal and police department in Irvine, Texas. I don’t think President Obama is particularly known for acting with due deliberation or is careful not to rush to judgment. About a year ago there was a case where a violent criminal robbed a deli, and then assaulted a police officer, who (acting in defense of himself and the community he was sworn to protect), shot the criminal in question. President Obama immediately (way before all the facts became known and before the Grand Jury found the officer completely justified in his actions) called the family of…the criminal and offered his condolences. I kid you not. Let me repeat that: POTUS called a family of a dead robber and violent thug and offered his condolences. Now, after the Grand Jury findings, President Obama finally did decide to act with due deliberation and without the rush to judgement, when it came to calling the police officer and apologizing. The due deliberation apparently continues to this day… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/551 "2015-09-22T00:21:11Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > You’re missing the point. You have seen cell phones and cigarettes _which were not detonators_ - many times, I imagine. A hoax or bomb scare is about perception, which means that a real detonator that is not perceived as being a detonator (because a person looking at a cell phone thinks it is a cell phone) is not going to cause the same reaction as a not-bomb that is perceived as being a bomb (because it conforms to the stereotype created by film and TV of what a bomb looks like). And, we’ve all seen clocks which were just clocks. So, I’m not missing the point. The point is - _anything could be a bomb!_ If all we are worried about is keeping morons happy, than schools need to ban everything - the kids need to come to class shoeless and sans backpacks. Otherwise, these sort of things will happen over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/552 "2015-09-22T00:21:16Z")
> [@Alkash](#): > > About a year ago there was a case where a violent criminal robbed a deli, and then assaulted a police officer, who (acting in defense of himself and the community he was sworn to protect), shot the criminal in question. You would think something like that would make the news. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/553 "2015-09-22T00:30:35Z")
> [@Alkash](#): > > I don’t think President Obama is particularly known for acting with due deliberation or is careful not to rush to judgment. Not among reactionary right-wing morons, he’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Alkash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Alkash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alkash)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/554 "2015-09-22T00:31:02Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > You would think something like that would make the news. It did. [Here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-brown-shooting-protesters-police-clash-overnight-in-ferguson-mo/2014/08/12/733985e6-2220-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html) is the President of the United States offering “his deepest condolences” to the family of the robber in question and asking to remember the criminal through “reflection and understanding”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/555 "2015-09-22T00:34:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Not among reactionary right-wing morons, he’s not. Cosigned. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/556 "2015-09-22T00:35:46Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The point is - _anything could be a bomb!_ > > If all we are worried about is keeping morons happy, than schools need to ban everything - the kids need to come to class shoeless and sans backpacks. Otherwise, these sort of things will happen over and over. One of my nephews went to a school which banned backpacks. The boy started carrying a purse. ---
**Author:** ![canned\_mayhem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@canned\_mayhem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/canned_mayhem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/557 "2015-09-22T00:46:16Z")
I’m just thankful it was just a brown boy who was the victim here. Can you imagine the lefts reaction if this was a 14 year old black lesbian muslim? Riots across the country, Obama issuing apologies from Golf Cart One, MSNBC blaming Bush, 3 Lifetime movies in the pipeline and she would have the democratic presidential nomination locked up. Seriously though, his Dad deserves an honorary editors position at The [Onion.com](http://Onion.com) for this gem of a troll… ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/558 "2015-09-22T01:03:41Z")
> [@Alkash](#): > > It did. [Here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-brown-shooting-protesters-police-clash-overnight-in-ferguson-mo/2014/08/12/733985e6-2220-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html) is the President of the United States offering “his deepest condolences” to the family of the robber in question and asking to remember the criminal through “reflection and understanding”. You are a special kind of dumb, ain’tcha? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/559 "2015-09-22T01:05:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why would it matter what the kid said? Kids lie all the time to get out of trouble. Or, so what if he was even telling the truth, but THE THING COULD REASONABLY BE SEEN AS A FAKE BOMB. The rule doesn’t say “no fake bombs, _unless you tell us that it’s a clock_”. First, the kid’s first explanation of the device as a clock was not in response to questioning, or an attempt to “get out of trouble.” He took the device to show to his science teacher (presumably, that’s what you do when you complete an interesting science project), he told the science teacher that it was a clock, and the science teacher confirmed that it was, in fact a clock. So, a qualified member of the school faculty knew that it was not a bomb, independent of the kid’s explanation. And your ideas about reading and enforcing the rules are asinine. Based on your interpretation, basically any device that emits a sound at any time, and that looks even vaguely like a bunch of electronic circuitry, no matter how closely related to an actual bomb, can be defined under the rule as a “fake bomb.” It’s the perfect syllogism: anything that i say is a fake bomb is, by definition, a fake bomb, whether or not it is a bomb, and whether or not i have confirmation that it is in fact a clock. I expected some of the ridiculous interpretations of this incident from some of the other people on this board, but i thought that you would advocate for some actual common sense in how to evaluate a situation like this. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/560 "2015-09-22T01:29:09Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I expected some of the ridiculous interpretations of this incident from some of the other people on this board, but i thought that you would advocate for some actual common sense in how to evaluate a situation like this. I wonder if you and **John** are talking past each other a little bit. Neither of you appears to think AFAICS that the clock could reasonably be interpreted as a bomb by the school administration. However, the clock _could_ reasonably be seen as an attempt at a “look alike” as prohibited by the student code of conduct. So some sort of evaluation of that question was not unreasonable. I agree with **mhendo** that a reasonable evaluation was pretty obviously performed on the spot by the first teacher, and the affair should have ended right there. Unfortunately, once the disruption in the English class occurred, I don’t think it was out of line for that teacher to refer the issue to the principal. I honestly don’t know which parts of that either of you actually disagree with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=29)