Sounds like FRC could be a good fit for this young man, and let him know that there are people out there who value kids like this.
From the Dallas Morning News: "Northwest Dallas County
Irving 9th-grader arrested after taking homemade clock to school: ‘So you tried to make a bomb?’ "
Team 3370- Aftershock, is based out of Irving.
I too think that this would be a good idea to try and find a local FTC or FRC team for him to participate on. Could anyone that knows Aftershock get in contact with them?
After reading the story, I understand why the school overreacted. Stereotypical bombs have a large countdown clock. I doubt most bombs actually have those on them. Any self educated person could look at the wiring and tell if it’s actually a clock or not. I would have probably known that before I joined my team’s electronics sub team. It’s a sad story that he may be charged with a hoax bomb over some English teachers lack of knowledge on electronics. (Keep in mind I don’t know what the clock looked like. I can’t watch the video since I’m in a quiet place.) Hope some FIRST team can recruit him. He just sounds like a good old robotics geek (like the rest of us) that didn’t think about the fact that his clock may look like the stereo typical bomb.
100% guaranteed this “overreaction” doesn’t occur if he is white and his name isn’t Ahmed Mohammed…that’s the real problem.
…and it is mid-September…
If our culture sees electronics with 7 segment displays as nothing but bombs, then we really need to keep working on changing that culture.
Cory’s answer defines the actual issue.
When I was a sophomore in my high school Aerospace class, we built model rockets and my group’s rocket looked pretty awesome so I decided to keep the rocket. During lunch that day, one of our deans walked up and examined it to make sure it didn’t have an engine/bomb/explosive in it. He was not particularly worried or suspicious, he just needed to “make sure”. I wonder if it would have changed for me if I had been from the same cultural/religious background as this poor kid.
This year I am participating in a seminar course discussing the implications and definitions of terrorism, and from what we’ve discussed in class it is really stupid to think that this kid is a terrorist. If the school is jumping to these conclusions, then they are misinformed about what terrorism is. The issue of terrorism goes much further than the shallow thinking that these school officials are exerting.
Don’t you know? Kids who wear NASA shirts to school are obviously up to no good and hate America…
+1
In a positive update, the kid just got a personal invite to the White House by POTUS.
Boy, we have been bringing our “cannon” to all sorts of school events. Good thing it doesn’t have a count down clock on it. :rolleyes:
The teacher reportedly thinks it looks like a bomb and keeps it. Does that sound like a good plan?
Stereotypical bombs have a large countdown clock.
Yes they do. This one was a clock, so I think it was counting UP. That makes it harder to be a bomb.
Related, someone found on Amazon these $4 clock kits (with free shipping) and are sending them to the school.
Feel free to help start the STEM program there:
MacArthur High School
attn: Daniel Cummings
3700 N MacArthur Blvd,
Irving, TX 75062
Or send a clock kit to your local high school, maybe you can get one of your local kids a trip to DC to meet the President!
I’m happy for him that it’s going to work out, sad that it happened in the first place.
Haha. Yeah, after seeing what some of you all responded to my post, there are some majors issues with the teacher who reported this.
Gone are the days that kids building rockets, jets, and blowing stuff up is considered normal and encouraged, or at least tolerated with stern warnings. There have been far too many stories involving those subjects ending up very poorly for young people when the law gets involved(a friend of my wife got a felony conviction for experimentation). People see it as a threat and something that should be punished, but forget that that is how many people got into science and engineering, especially those involved in the early NASA programs. I have luckily managed to be smart enough about my more questionable experiments so as to avoid this very issue coming up. It feels wrong to know that some of the things I’ve done that have taught me a great deal about science and engineering carry with them a potential for jail time.
To be honest & only knowing the story over the internet, I am not sure the English teacher did anything wrong. Doesn’t everybody carry around dual function bomb/alarm clocks? The administration and the police however way overreacted. At least the police had the common sense to admit it and drop it.
Hey, NASA has reached out:
Chris Hadfield @Cmdr_Hadfield (NASA Astronaut)
Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I’d love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There’s a ticket waiting for you.
Especially when it’s white males that are the perpetrators of school place violence.
It also come down to zero-tolerance policies that removes administrators common sense from the equation.
I’m a grown man and this whole situation is so infuriating on so many levels that it makes me just want to cry because I am so ashamed of the level of racism, islamophobia, fear, and just plain ignorance, stupidity, and absurdity in this country.
QFT.