All you need to know.
Really stupid post, mhendo. Just so you know.
Posted by Clothahump.
All you need to know. 
sproing
That ship sailed about two decades ago.
Exactly! If they honestly thought it was a bomb, there are procedures to follow. Everyone would have been evacuated, and a bomb squad would be called in to check it.
Apparently, they might charge him with making a “hoax bomb”, like he was trying to make something that would look like a bomb to scare people:
I don’t know what broader explanation that they would be wanting. I imagine that even if the kid explained everything about how the clock works, and why he made it, and how he made it, and the history of clocks and robotics, that nothing would be good enough.
I really hope that the national attention means that he won’t get charged, and that he’s able to find some resources outside of school that can help him with his inventions and where he can show them off to people who won’t automatically think he’s trying to make bombs.
The only fucking ‘alarm’ was on the clock (which went off in a class and started this whole debacle). There is simply no reasonable explanation for:
- calling the police
- handcuffing Ahmed Mohammed
- suspending Ahmed Mohammed
There are lots of unreasonable (pronounced “shitty”) explanations, like people saying “I understand the alarm”, or (paraphrasing) “he told us it was a clock, but we don’t think that was the full story”.
While it is possible to build a digital clock with hands, Occam’s Razor says it likely had a number readout. This article and the one on NPR just mention a digital display, not how the time was displayed.
Just sayin’… 
ETA: Reading it a third time, there is a possibility I was whooshed by kambuckta’s post (alarm; minutes), but I’m not sure, and I’m unfamiliar with his/her other posts and positions.
DUCK!
Whew, that was a close one; just missed you.
Maybe school administrators need a graphic aid to tell hoax bombs from real bombs.
One would think a teacher who really thought it was a bomb would evacuate the classroom as fast as s/he could. Keeping the clock and taking it to the office is a degree of stupidity that really makes me question the ability of this person to sit in a classroom.
That sort of tells me that even the teacher knew it wasn’t dangerous.
Perhaps they felt a certain pressure to save face. But, c’mon, guys, dial it down!
Yeah, I think so (as I was typing when you posted). If I was indeed whooshed (and it is seeming more likely to be so), I apologize to kambuckta for my knee-jerk reaction.
Thanks for posting that link; I sent some good thoughts his way.
Between this story and the story in the controversial encounters with cops thread about a guy getting shot because the police thought his cell phone was a gun, I’m not at all sure it’s safe to go anywhere with anything in my hands. Is there anything that cops don’t automatically perceive as a threat?
Donuts?
Depends. What color are you?
Let’s ignore the stupidity. Let’s even ignore the questioning a minor with no parents or counselors present. Here’s what gets me about this story.
You have a teacher who took the clock away in 2nd period. Ahmed is pulled out of class by officers in 6th period. He’s brought to the principal’s (or vice principal’s) office, given a lengthy interrogation and ultimately arrested. Now, if the administrators are to be believed, they either thought it was a bomb or were at least uncertain as to what it was.
Where is the clock during all of this?
Why was a bomb squad not called?
Why was the school not evacuated?
Are there any policies in place in this school district for dealing with an imminent threat like a bomb scare? If not, why not? If so, were any of them followed in this instance?
This was my favorite bit from the article:
I hope Ahmed gets his future college tuition paid for out of this.
The kicker? The kid was wearing a NASA t-shirt when he was arrested.
