# 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:** 59
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1161 "2015-10-04T15:03:49Z")
**Leaper** : So who’s praising him for “creating an invention?” **mags** : …LOOK OVER THERE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1162 "2015-10-04T16:26:02Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > interesting [article](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/29/before-clock-incident-made-him-a-celebrity-ahmed-mohamed-racked-up-weeks-of-suspensions-and-clashed-with-authority/) that gives some insight into his possible motivation. quick! Slander the kid! ---
**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:** [October 4, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1163 "2015-10-04T17:08:33Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Interesting [article](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/29/before-clock-incident-made-him-a-celebrity-ahmed-mohamed-racked-up-weeks-of-suspensions-and-clashed-with-authority/) that gives some insight into his possible motivation. From his previous school, where he reportedly never got into serious trouble for his creations. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1164 "2015-10-04T20:53:48Z")
_Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great._ - Barack “I don’t know the facts but the teacher, principle, and police acted stupidly” Obama Of course, screw that safety protocol that the school system has in place. You are no longer expected to adhere to what a school’s safety policy is or to what your teachers tell you. You’re an internet star now and it doesn’t matter how stupid your actions were. Looking forward to seeing you on a Kardashian-type show in the future. Remember, you can always count on some internet posters to try to shout down and try to insult those who prefer to discuss the facts and school policy. That, and internet access, is all they have left. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1165 "2015-10-04T21:49:53Z")
I want to change my log in to unhinged ---
**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:** [October 4, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1166 "2015-10-04T22:02:28Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Remember, you can always count on some internet posters to try to shout down and try to insult those who prefer to discuss the facts and school policy. OK, which one are you? The only thing you have discussed is the clock. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1167 "2015-10-05T01:25:38Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > You keep saying this. > > Can you please explain what you believe Ahmed and his dad were thinking here? Do you think they knew he’d be arrested? I also keep saying that no, I do not. He has been suspended repeatedly; I think they thought he’d get suspended again and they could make hay about it on the Internet. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > None of them were arrested. He gets praise because of his curiosity, and to make up for his arrest. And to signal to others that it’s not okay to arrest kids for doing nothing because they’re brown. And to signal to other kids that such tinkering and curiosity deserves praise. He was, at the very least, goofing off and being disruptive in class, with a lackluster “invention” that was a shock hazard. So the messaging should not have been this disingenuous “awesome clock, you shall now be feted and flown around the country to show it off at science fairs” but rather “this kid deserves Saturday morning detention maybe, but putting him in handcuffs was outrageous”. So the disapprobation toward the school authorities and police is warranted; the celebration of a misbehaving kid is not. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1168 "2015-10-05T01:29:00Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > He has been suspended repeatedly Reportedly for blowing bubbles in the boys’ room and standing up to bullies, _not_ for any gadgets. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1169 "2015-10-05T01:36:09Z")
Not from official reports. The family won’t release them. But his disciplinary folder is said (per _Dallas Morning News_) to be “thick”. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1170 "2015-10-05T01:38:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Not from official reports. The family won’t release them. But his disciplinary folder is said (per _Dallas Morning News_) to be “thick”. This is innuendo that tells us absolutely nothing. If you want to believe the kid is no good, I’m sure you can find innuendo to justify this. But IMO, shame on you, in a mild way, for accepting and spreading innuendo about a kid. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1171 "2015-10-05T02:02:05Z")
So Dallas Morning News is a yellow journal/rag/tabloid now? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1172 "2015-10-05T02:02:57Z")
I thought school disciplinary reports of minors were protected information. Are they not? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1173 "2015-10-05T02:07:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is innuendo that tells us absolutely nothing. If you want to believe the kid is no good, I’m sure you can find innuendo to justify this. > > But IMO, shame on you, in a mild way, for accepting and spreading innuendo about a kid. You’re overly optimistic if you think this human shitstain is capable of feeling shame. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1174 "2015-10-05T05:26:32Z")
> [@andros](#): > > **Leaper** : So who’s praising him for “creating an invention?” > > **mags** : …LOOK OVER THERE!!! As in the link I provided. Ya, dumbbell. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1175 "2015-10-05T05:35:06Z")
Once again, for the hard of thinking. Good for the kid for tinkering around with electronics. Let that be encouraged. But the kid invented squat. And the type of “science” he demonstrated in taking the housing off a clock and putting it in a different case is a very, very long ways from, “OMG, did you see what a 14-year-old kid did?” I’d bet that there’s probably gaggles of geeky kids younger than him that could do the same thing. As I said, the people who should know better who reached out to this kid—The White House, Silicon Valley, MIT—praising him do him a great disservice. I can imagine the thousands of his peers much more advanced than him wondering, “WTF”? Again, the only real upside here is the degree to which Obama, MIT and the players in Silicon Valley were so quick to turn th kid into a celebrity. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1176 "2015-10-05T05:56:45Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Once again, for the hard of thinking. Good for the kid for tinkering around with electronics. Let that be encouraged. But the kid invented squat. And the type of “science” he demonstrated in taking the housing off a clock and putting it in a different case is a very, very long ways from, “OMG, did you see what a 14-year-old kid did?” I’d bet that there’s probably gaggles of geeky kids younger than him that could do the same thing. As I said, the people who should know better who reached out to this kid—The White House, Silicon Valley, MIT—praising him do him a great disservice. I can imagine the thousands of his peers much more advanced than him wondering, “WTF”? Again, the only real upside here is the degree to which Obama, MIT and the players in Silicon Valley were so quick to turn th kid into a celebrity. You and I clearly have a different definition of ‘disservice’ So what if he didn’t actually invent something, he was merely tinkering with electronics. He was showing an interest in understanding how things worked and the adults in his community tried treat him like a criminal for doing so, screw those people. He was treated unfairly. That’said the whole freaking issue. Obama and MIT and whoever else have praised him for his pursuit. Because you don’t feel this child’s interest is worthy doesn’t mean the adults of the world shouldn’t encourage him. A bunch of assholes took effort to disenfranchise him, it was combat that. If attempt to raise this child’s spirits discourage his more advanced peers from perusing their own futures, they were destined to be a shitheads anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1177 "2015-10-05T10:30:17Z")
You guys think magellan01 has changed since his inane “insights” in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=397206)? You’re dreaming. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1178 "2015-10-05T10:46:15Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Once again, for the hard of thinking. Good for the kid for tinkering around with electronics. Let that be encouraged. But the kid invented squat. And the type of “science” he demonstrated in taking the housing off a clock and putting it in a different case is a very, very long ways from, “OMG, did you see what a 14-year-old kid did?” I’d bet that there’s probably gaggles of geeky kids younger than him that could do the same thing. As I said, the people who should know better who reached out to this kid—The White House, Silicon Valley, MIT—praising him do him a great disservice. I can imagine the thousands of his peers much more advanced than him wondering, “WTF”? Again, the only real upside here is the degree to which Obama, MIT and the players in Silicon Valley were so quick to turn th kid into a celebrity. I knew this fucking idiot wouldn’t be able to noodle this one out. He’s just repeating himself. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1179 "2015-10-05T11:29:54Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I also keep saying that no, I do not. He has been suspended repeatedly; I think they thought he’d get suspended again and they could make hay about it on the Internet. > > He was, at the very least, goofing off and being disruptive in class, with a lackluster “invention” that was a shock hazard. So the messaging should not have been this disingenuous “awesome clock, you shall now be feted and flown around the country to show it off at science fairs” but rather “this kid deserves Saturday morning detention maybe, but putting him in handcuffs was outrageous”. So the disapprobation toward the school authorities and police is warranted; the celebration of a misbehaving kid is not. If this clock was such a hazard, then the first teacher is the one who messed up. And I don’t believe for one second that anything would have come from a mere suspension, complained about on the internet, by a 14 year old kid or his father. And I don’t think they thought so either. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/1180 "2015-10-05T11:44:09Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Once again, for the hard of thinking. Good for the kid for tinkering around with electronics. Let that be encouraged. But the kid invented squat. And the type of “science” he demonstrated in taking the housing off a clock and putting it in a different case is a very, very long ways from, “OMG, did you see what a 14-year-old kid did?” No one anywhere is saying this, from what I can tell. Certainly no one in this thread. This has nothing to do with the topic, in fact. The kid is getting praised (not for any supposed genius, but just for being a tinkering and curious kid) both to encourage intellectual curiosity and tinkering, and to make up for the unjust arrest and mistreatment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=60)