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?