THOUGHTS: Ahmed and his Homemade Clock?!

ValleyMom

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 10:29 am

I'm very confused about the whole hoopla about teachers being concerned about the homemade clock that resembled a homemade bomb?!

Aren't we told at airports, subways, shopping malls... to report strange looking objects?

Have you seen he homemade clock?
It LOOKS like a homemade BOMB.

I don't care if the child's name was Alex, Howard, Steve, Ahmed or Billy I would have been very anxious.

What is happening in America that everyone is in such an outrage in light of all the mass killings happening in our country more and more frequently.

We live in strange times indeed when the President of the USA gives more respect to King Hussein than the Prime Minister of Israel.

I would appreciate clarification.

spring13

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 10:49 am

http://makezine.com/2015/09/16.....lock/

Kids are encouraged to do this kind of thing, schools place major emphasis on STEAM pursuits. If a student comes to you and says "look, I built a clock" and showed you how it works, why would you ASSUME that it was not, in fact, a clock? If he was planning to build a bomb and use it at school, why would he have shown it to a teacher?

morah

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 11:21 am

It didn't look like a clock to me. I would have been nervous too. But the cops totally overreacted. This kid should not have been cuffed and hauled off to juvy without even being able to talk to his parents. Detained in school while they figured out the device was not dangerous would have been appropriate. Yes, we have to be careful, but there has been an extremely disturbing trend of arresting kids in school for the smallest hair trigger infraction, and it is not good. Responding with pointless security theater and total overkill is not the way to handle the problem of school violence. We protest when airlines do it to us, we shouldn't be OK with it when schools do it to kids.

imasoftov

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 1:23 pm

Here's a website encouraging people to build their own clocks as a form of support

Stand With Ahmed: 5 Clocks You Can Make
http://makezine.com/2015/09/16.....make/

And here's a photo of the clock from Wired Magazine with each of the parts labeled.

sky

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 1:24 pm

I remember about a year after 9/11 I was flying with a testing contraption for work. I seriously was nervous someone would think it was a bomb. (I brought a note from the office what it was). Before each X-Ray scanner I took it out of my carry on and showed it to security and explained its purpose. They were totally not phased by it. I think there are certain objects that give people that fear, especially if there are lots of wires lying around.

This story did bother me.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 3:43 pm

imasoftov wrote:

I'm an engineer. Half of my office could be mistaken for bombs, and just about everything else there that isn't furniture could be if it was taken apart.

The public schools my kids went to all had robotics teams. I had two that made it to the robotics teams. I suggested it since they were the fix it kids who loved taking apart dead small appliances and repairing them.

mille

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 6:16 pm

spring13 wrote:

http://makezine.com/2015/09/16/this-is-ahmed-mohameds-clock/

Kids are encouraged to do this kind of thing, schools place major emphasis on STEAM pursuits. If a student comes to you and says "look, I built a clock" and showed you how it works, why would you ASSUME that it was not, in fact, a clock? If he was planning to build a bomb and use it at school, why would he have shown it to a teacher?

I totally agree. It's also such a shame because this kid appears to be a total mench and his family seems really great.

Also worth noting that President Obama tweeted in support of Ahmed and encouraged him to make cool things like that - as well as a NASA Astronaut (who invited him to an upcoming science expo!). Thankfully the media response has been pretty reasonable, that this was a huge overreaction and not simply being cautious. I saw a picture yesterday which had Ahmed and his clock on one side of the picture, and two Texan children on the other side holding actual guns. Let's not try to pretend this is safety - and let's stand up for other minority groups who are needlessly victimized as well. This would have never happened if it were Alex, Howard, Steve, or Billy.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 6:47 pm

November wrote:

Can you be too safe in public schools? No, I don't think he should have been arrested. But come on- safety first. Especially if your name is Ahmed Muhammad.

This is called "worst first" thinking. You imagine the most horrible, and incredibly rare event, to be lurking just around the corner, ready to strike at any minute. Google "risk assessment and logical fallacies". Read anything you can written by Gavin deBecker. Don't live in fear of the boogie man, and educate yourself. You'll have a much better life, and so will your children.

Do you drive your kids to school, let them take the bus, or even *gasp* ride a bike or walk across the street? The fact is that they are FAR more likely to die in a car accident with YOU driving, than they ever will be from some kid who proudly shows his science teacher his latest project.

I mean, the kid wanted to be challenged and learn! He wanted the approval of an adult who was a safe mentor. That is the type of kid you want to be a productive member of society - regardless of his name or religion. If he were my kid, I'd be extremely proud of him, and transferring him to a tech oriented school for advanced students. I hope that of all the offers his parents have gotten, that they take action and get him into a more sane environment where he can really shine.

November

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 6:56 pm

I'll reiterate that I do not think that this kid should have been arrested. The situation should have been analyzed and if/when the authorities find it to be harmless, let the kid back to class. But do not stick your head into the sand and think that young male Muslims who like to tinker couldn't possibly create a bomb and bring it to school. As his parents you should encourage your kid and make sure he's in the proper environment. Or MIT for kids. Whatever. But the school system must be on the lookout to be certain that the classroom is a safe environment.

applecake

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 9:05 pm

mille wrote:

This is perfect and I agree 100%. Ahmed seems like a nice kid and a bright kid and wouldn't it be a crime if all this badness caused him to lose his passion for science and engineering? I'm glad social media caught on and is supporting him because he needs to feel supported in exploring his talents. Science and technology is for everyone, even kids named Ahmed who live in Texas.

zaq

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 9:45 pm

mille wrote:

This would have never happened if it were Alex, Howard, Steve, or Billy.

I wouldn't be so sure. Remember Columbine HS? Remember the U of Virginia? Students shooting up other students, to say nothing of teachers, is a very real threat, one that I think schools are finally admitting and trying to prepare for.

The apparatus sure looks like a bomb to me. I don't say the child should have been hauled off in cuffs, but the teacher absolutely had a mandate to report the device and the child and the school had a mandate to investigate. THIS child was innocent, perhaps--another one may not have been. Not to mention that people planning an attack sometimes test the security system by trying to slip in something innocuous that looks bad just to expose the weaknesses in the system. It's a variation of the boy who cried wolf, with the boy crying wolf to disarm the populace so that the real wolf can come in undeterred.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 10:22 pm

The school didn't go on lockdown nor was it evacuated. I would think that if these folks thought it really was a bomb they would have reverted to SOP. Instead, the kid, the clock and the teachers all remained in the same room.

oliveoil

Thu, Sep 17 2015, 11:09 pm

causemommysaid wrote:

I think the issue was not that the school got scared but rather how the police handled it. They determined rather quickly that it was a clock not a bomb. Why did they need to handcuff and arrest him?

and yet even after the police released him, the school maintained his 3 day suspension...