Slashdot Mirror
9th-Grader May Face Charges After Homemade Clock Mistaken For Bomb
New submitter bengoerz writes: 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was led away from MacArthur High School in handcuffs and faces possible charges after teachers, school administrators, and police in Irving, Texas mistook his homemade clock for a bomb. The device — a circuit board, power supply, and digital display wired together inside a pencil box — was confiscated by a teacher after the alarm sounded in class. Despite telling everyone who would listen that his device was just a clock, Ahmed was confronted by four police officers, suspended for three days, and threatened with expulsion unless he made a written statement, before eventually being transported to a juvenile detention center to meet his parents.
Here's how to reach out to the Irving ISD superintendent to let him know what you think:
Jose Parra
Superintendent of Schools
972-600-5001
jparra@irvingisd.net
Recipients: dacummings@irvingisd.net, othomas@irvingisd.net, mespino@irvingisd.net, sheller@irvingisd.net, awong@irvingisd.net, psmith@irvingisd.net
(from http://www.irvingisd.net/domain/2031 )
Email message:
To whom it concerns,
I had to read this article about a boy who tinkers with electronics as a hobby:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-9th-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school-so-you-tried-to-make-a-bomb.ece
I hope it is not standard practice of the school to traumatize kids the way this has been dealt with. Kids who take up interests in sciences should be supported. Not jailed.
Macarthur High School, Irving, TX reviews. Sounds like a terrible place to try to learn.
"At least half of the teachers should not be teaching kids EVER."
"Only by threatening to have them arrested. Kids are afraid to take AP classes because they aren't learning anything. They are only reading and taking notes. No instruction at all."
"My kids hate this school now and would much rather move if we were able."
"No it's a breeding ground for bullying, fighting and rudeness. The teachers stoop to a child's level to treat them with absolute disrespect."
"This school has gone from a 10 to a 1 in a matter of 9 months. I blame this 100% on the new Principal. This school is run like a military camp, with horrible food, unrealistic rules, and all 'fun' activities taken away. They are threatened with court and jail if they are tardy. Theft is so rampant at this school that it is unbelievable. AP History teachers give several hours of notes each night, instead of actually TEACHING while they are in class, which means no time for their core class homework or sports. They refuse, and I mean refuse to let your child out of AP, even when you have signed several slips for this to happen. Teachers obviously set you up to fail. They just don't care. This is true for 50% of the teachers at this school. And don't report bullying. Your child will be blamed instead of the child who is actually doing the bullying. And the parent is put down as well. We just don't report theft or bullying anymore. Not worth the humiliation and disrespect that the 'fine' staff at Mac makes sure you endure."
well, here's the principal: dacummings@irvingisd.net and here the link to the administrative staff page: http://www.irvingisd.net/domai... have fun, and don't forget to write them about their 1600 cc-cameras. from an european perspective this sounds like an orwellian prison, but maybe this is normal for the U.S. way to go, educating children towards acceptance for the surveilance state.