[marshall]

Originally Posted by ChuckDickerson

What I’m trying to figure out is how the alarm on the clock went off in his backpack during his 6th period English class. The clock appears to be the AC powered innards with a 9VDC plug for battery backup. If it was in his backpack how was it plugged into the wall?

I am assuming he didn’t actually design/build a clock from scratch but rather assembled parts and pieces from one or more consumer alarm clocks (possibly broken) and put them together in this case and made them work. No matter what he did: design and build a clock from scratch, put broken pieces together, buy a clock kit somewhere online and solder it up, or whatever, I applaud him for good old fashioned inquisitiveness and creativity. His actions should be celebrated not punished. Back when I was a kid I had a habit of “taking things apart to see how they work”. This was encouraged behavior. If something was broken like an alarm clock, a microwave, a TV, a tape deck, a movie projector, etc. I always got to tear into it before it hit the trash. What happened to those days? When did this become something that would get you arrested for attempting to make a “hoax bomb”? Oh wait, I’m sorry, I forgot, I was a white kid.

Yeah, at first I thought that it was a miracle that I had never been arrested for something like this when I was a student. Then I thought about it... His skin color, his religion, and his name should not determine the severity of the punishment he received. He should not have been punished at all for this. Real bombs don't beep.