Teen makes digital clock out of hobby, gets arrested

[Bogdan6]

Ahmed Mohamed — who makes his own radios and repairs his own go-kart — hoped to impress his teachers when he brought a homemade clock to MacArthur High on Monday.

Instead, the school phoned police about Ahmed’s circuit-stuffed pencil case.

So the 14-year-old missed the student council meeting and took a trip in handcuffs to juvenile detention. His clock now sits in an evidence room. Police say they may yet charge him with making a hoax bomb — though they acknowledge he told everyone who would listen that it’s a clock.

In the meantime, Ahmed’s been suspended, his father is upset and the Council on American-Islamic Relations is once again eyeing claims of Islamophobia in Irving.

Source of the article

Isn't this a bit too far? I know that probably out of all country, the US may be arch-enemies of the terrorists and should be cautious, but damn there is a line between caution and paranoia. I've heard similar stories of kids getting suspended for playing with toy swords or pretending to be knights, due to "violence limitation" politics.

He’s vowed never to take an invention to school again.

While he may not show his creations in public, which can limit the horizons and thus cannot possibly get credit or make an actual living out of it. Not to say some may get discouraged and abandon the hobby.

Opinions?

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Bogdan6

Source of the article

Isn't this a bit too far? I know that probably out of all country, the US may be arch-enemies of the terrorists and should be cautious, but damn there is a line between caution and paranoia. I've heard similar stories of kids getting suspended for playing with toy swords or pretending to be knights, due to "violence limitation" politics.


While he may not show his creations in public, which can limit the horizons and thus cannot possibly get credit or make an actual living out of it. Not to say some may get discouraged and abandon the hobby.

Opinions?

I think adding a picture of the device may help.

Arstechnica Article



For me I think it bears watching this story and time will tell if this was some isolated and unfortunate misunderstanding or part of some broader plot. I would point out that the view that the US is the archenemy of terrorists is overplaying things a bit. Everyone that doesn't kneel with them at the same time and in the same way and doesn't say the same words is their enemy.

Was the unsolicited move of bringing this creation to school a bright move? Probably not. The kid is 14 and having demonstrated ability in the engineering space doesn't mean that his judgment is any different from his peers. Likewise, we see example after example of teachers and police showing poor decision making skills. If we see, in the coming days, more stories like this...or a bomb that ends up being transported in a case like this...it changes how we view this story.

[Bogdan6]

Originally Posted by Innoc

Was the unsolicited move of bringing this creation to school a bright move? Probably not. The kid is 14 and having demonstrated ability in the engineering space doesn't mean that his judgment is any different from his peers. Likewise, we see example after example of teachers and police showing poor decision making skills. If we see, in the coming days, more stories like this...or a bomb that ends up being transported in a case like this...it changes how we view this story.

While some circuits in a case would start some suspision, according to those related the school staff and the police did not act as if it was a real bomb. They confiscated it from him and patientilly waiting for the police, while everyone was merely keeping courses. AFAIK in case of bomb suspicions, you evacuate the building as soon as possible and call the pyrotechnists. (Also I think the police should have smart enough electricians to tell what kind of device was built)

Whenether the kid's choice to bring the clock to school was bright or not, the 'authorities' handled it extremly poor. OK, in a country that experienced 9/11, Boston Marathon bombing and possibly others I'm not aware of being a muslim and bringing such a suspicious looking device might not be the best idea, but it still shows the paranoia in people, the islamophobia, stereotypes and generalisation. "Doesn't mean that his judgment is any different from his peers". If by peers, you mean fellow muslims or immigrants then that is indeed getting it generalised. Does it mean he will end up in the world of terrorism? Probable. Improbable. We can't simply make assumptions based on race, religion and ethny.

Originally Posted by Innoc

If we see, in the coming days, more stories like this...or a bomb that ends up being transported in a case like this...it changes how we view this story.

Probably more stories like this exist, except they do not get to be hot-topics or mediatised so heavily like this one was, which is kind of pity, this kid's arse was pretty much covered by Obama and other celebrities, if he didn't get their support (which in my opinion mattered) he may still be charged or be in a legal battle.
About a bomb getting transported in a similar case. Well it can be anything, in any case/backpack/etc carried by anybody. It's always good to keep your guard up and prevent unnecesary danger, but considering how the staff handled it, either it was too paranoic to simply pick on the kid or extremly superficial given the fact that they patiently waited for the police to pick up the kid, not worrying about the possible bomb going off.

[Deadly Furby]

Story failed to mention that he was told by his teacher not to show it to anyone else. Unfortunately, he did.

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Bogdan6

Whenether the kid's choice to bring the clock to school was bright or not, the 'authorities' handled it extremly poor. OK, in a country that experienced 9/11, Boston Marathon bombing and possibly others I'm not aware of being a muslim and bringing such a suspicious looking device might not be the best idea, but it still shows the paranoia in people, the islamophobia, stereotypes and generalisation. "Doesn't mean that his judgment is any different from his peers". If by peers, you mean fellow muslims or immigrants then that is indeed getting it generalised. Does it mean he will end up in the world of terrorism? Probable. Improbable. We can't simply make assumptions based on race, religion and ethny.

I think you may have misunderstood the point I was making. When I posted:

"The kid is 14 and having demonstrated ability in the engineering space doesn't mean that his judgment is any different from his peers."

The use of "his peers" means "other 14 year olds". I'm not saying anything else about any other obvious or less obvious characteristic he may possess. In general 14 year old children are idiots. This particular 14 year old may have a strong affinity and aptitude for engineering but, at 14, it's generally safe to assume that his critical thinking skills may take some time...not to mention social skills.

I've heard a few variants of this story now which tells me that we're seeing reporting couched as being solid details where the facts are still coming out. We also have the possibility that there are people contributing to the news cycle that are lying. Time will tell.

[GaryBase]

Might have really freaked out the cops at first glance.