64 replies to this topic

[bordercolliefan]

The item has been described as a small briefcase with wires coming out of it. It made sounds in class, prompting Ahmed to show it to the English teacher, who got concerned and called school administrators to look into it further.

In my mind, that was all very reasonable. I'm not techie, and like the English teacher, I would not bet my 40 students' lives on my ability to distinguish a bomb timing device from a homemade clock.

After that... things seemed to really go off the rails with an arrest, police questioning, and refusal to let the kid call his parents. Maybe that's just Texas. I can't imagine that happening here to some Intel parents' nerdy inventor-kid!

What do you think?

[4thgenFolsomite]

I think the problem came with him handcuffed for it.  I would check it out too, but handcuffing?  dios mio!  that is a little bit of an over-reaction.

[nomad]

The thing looked like a classic bomb in a briefcase. Yeah they "over-reacted" but had nobody considers what if the thing was real and they didn't bat an eye at what he brought to school?

 

This was pretty much a lose lose situation from the start and the kid is partially to blame. 

 

And was this worthy of an invite to the White House? Curious who is selected for these things these days...

[4thgenFolsomite]

I thought the invite to from the white house was a great move.  the kid is an American and did nothing wrong (even if he was naïve about how it all appeared) and clearly has some great skills.  inviting him to the white house elevates him as a role model for lots of kids.  its cool to be a geek.  it also includes (rather than excludes) muslim kids who might have pointed to the original arrest and used that as fodder to stand against the united states (i.e. home grown terrorists).  I like building bridges.

[2 Aces]

I thought the invite to from the white house was a great move.

You're dead wrong. It's a blatant pandering move to his ever-increasing Muslim base. It's too bad that this moron in the White House can't even bother to pick up the phone to call families of cops and other innocent people when they get gunned down by some of the filth roaming this country. And getting worse by the day.

[4thgenFolsomite]

you are entitled to your opinion.  I know muslim kids in Folsom that are smart, hard working, intelligent true-blue Americans who would be shattered if they were handcuffed in school for doing what they thought was school-work.  I think the white house invite sends a message of inclusion.  Do I think the president could be doing more to reach out to the families of police?  absolutely.  but one thing does not equal the other.

[cw68]

While it might look unusual, it didn't look like a bomb, it looked like a circuit board, which it was. Bombs require explosives.

Is Facebook now pandering to their increasing Muslim base? Because Zuckerberg also gave the kid props an an invitation. Are Reddit and Twitter also pandering to the Muslim base? Why is it such a big deal that our president did this? Is it only a big deal because the kid is Muslim?

Because last I checked, he was an American kid, interested in engineering and has a love of science. An American kid who was interrogated for over an hour and suspended for three days for making a clock. The school never called his parents.

Change Muslim to Christian and keep everything else the same - would you still think the same? Doubtful.

[bordercolliefan]

I thought the invite to from the white house was a great move.  the kid is an American and did nothing wrong (even if he was naïve about how it all appeared) and clearly has some great skills.  inviting him to the white house elevates him as a role model for lots of kids.  its cool to be a geek.  it also includes (rather than excludes) muslim kids who might have pointed to the original arrest and used that as fodder to stand against the united states (i.e. home grown terrorists).  I like building bridges.

Totally agree with this. The reason we have less problems with Muslim immigrants than many European countries is because they are more integrated. Problems come when you have alienated young people with no jobs and no prospects who feel isolated from the larger society. So a message of acceptance was exactly right.

That said, the English teacher did the right thing seeking further investigation. So what if it looked like a circuit board with no explosives directly attached. There's always Bluetooth. For all she knew, there could have been explosives at a remote location.

[giacomo]

if it was a bomb do you think the kid would've shown it to the teacher??? exactly probably not.

[bordercolliefan]

if it was a bomb do you think the kid would've shown it to the teacher??? exactly probably not.

The news report I read said the device made a noise in class, and the English teacher wanted to know what made the noise, so Ahmed took it out of his backpack and showed it to her.

So no, he did not show it to her on his own initiative.

[folsombound]

Total and complete overreaction by the teacher, the cops and everyone.  Typical Texas(and that is an overreaction by me).  This whole thing is paranoid stupidity!

[puppylover]

What a cute kid!  I wish the best for him.  It's great that he has been invited to other experiences so that he can still keep his eyes open to the future.   

I think in this case, it is a sign of the times.  Teachers have been instructed to  to report anything suspicious.   I want to think this could only happen in Texas or the South, but I am afraid it could have happened in Folsom.  My sweet, red headed nephew muttered under his breath (at a school in Folsom) that he wished his teacher was dead and was handcuffed by the police and taken to Juvenile hall. (She chided him because he did not do his homework. - rightfully so, I need to add here.)  We were not mad at the teacher or the school but extremely angry with him.  Fast forward a few years- This nephew is studying to be an English teacher at UCD.  I'll  bet  he has some empathy towards reluctant students.  Kids sometimes set themselves up in situations where they have not thought about the heavy duty consequences.- naive, as you said. 

[bordercolliefan]

Good post, puppylover

[ducky]

Second that.  Good post, puppylover.

 

Still, handcuffs on a young kid seems excessive.

[2 Aces]

The kid, Ahmed Mohammed, brought something that resembled a bomb to school. Was it a "dry run" for a future terrorist attack?? And, yeah, I can see why Hussein Obama would invite the Muslim kid to the White House...after all, there aren't any other pressing issues to deal with in this country and around the world. Yep, everything is just peachy. No problems with the economy...unemployment...our $20 trillion debt...the illegal invasion and crime related to it...the Middle East is a mess and Europe is under siege...the war on cops in this country perpetrated by thugs and the "black lives matter" crowd with an assist from Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood and Black Panther Party ...nah, no problems...nothing to see here !!

 

I wish more of you were *up to speed* on current/world events. But at least most of you know when the next fast-food joint will open. Ugh.