Let's take a look at Ahmed Mohamed’s rebuilt Clock.

[trumad]

Most kids Ahmed's age start their process of learning how things work by taking things apart and reassembling them. Gate's, Wozniak, all the great inventors of our time most likely started their learning process in a similar way.

Some seem to think that young Ahmed built the clock from scratch--fashioning circuit boards, a digital display, etc into a new working clock.

No---he took apart a digital clock, reassembled it in a pencil box, and walla, his clock.

Here's the thing that made it clever. He designed how it would fit in the pencil box, installed it in the pencil box, and made a pretty cool rebuilt clock for his project.

I see this young 14 year old kid sitting in his garage or his bedroom, designing his project and then building it. I see this kid who obviously has ambitions to be a scientist or a technical designer, being proud and happy as he completed his project.

I then see this kid going to school and having his world blown (excuse the pun) apart by a bunch of Moran scared idiots who are frightened by Brown skin, names that start with M, and TV sets with one channel spouting the Muslims are coming, the Muslims are coming!!! Add a cop force who works for a bug-eyed Fox wanna-be Mayor who thinks Shariah law will soon be the law of the land---well---Ahmed didn't stand a chance.

So let's take a look at the clock:



OK---it's been clearly determined that Ahmed disassembled a digital clock. Any objections to that?

The picture does not show it reassembled. The picture shows how he took that clock and installed it in the small pencil case.

It's as simple as that.

I picked this up from site called "Make". It's a site for people who make stuff.

For starters, the case, mistakenly referred to as a briefcase by some outlets, appears to be a simple child’s pencil box (see the power plug on the right side as the “banana for scale”).

Inside it, the electronics appear less as a combination of miscellaneous parts wired together into a timepiece, and more so as simply the guts of a standard digital alarm clock. Seen are a big seven-segment display, a transformer for stepping down the line voltage, 9-volt connector for power-outage battery backup, plus the control board with buttons to set the clock, and the main board that connects all the pieces together, attached to the display by a wide ribbon cable.

Ahmed should be proud of his build. All 14-year-olds possess curiosity about taking things apart and putting them together; this is integral to learning and growing, which allows us to understand and master technology. It’s an extremely unfortunate situation that none of his teachers were able to understand the build, nor his intention to connect with them and find someone to foster his creative desires.
http://makezine.com/2015/09/16/this-is-ahmed-mohameds-clock/

Let's repeat the last line in the last paragraph: "It’s an extremely unfortunate situation that none of his teachers were able to understand the build, nor his intention to connect with them and find someone to foster his creative desires."

Teachers, cops, mayors, and others who want to make this damn clock the focus of a story to purposely avoid the much bigger picture.

[The2ndWheel]

1. Not a project

He brought it to school for no official reason, and told nobody he was going to do it. The overreaction by the school and police after everything was figured out is ridiculous. That doesn't change anything about why it became an issue though.

Nobody can now see the picture outside of the context that it's just a clock. Show that same picture a month ago, with no context, and nobody is quite as smart. Or, maybe not as many people are as smart as they are today.

[ryan_cats]

2. Do you honestly

Do you honestly believe the facts even matter here?

[trumad]

6. Of course they matter...

And I just presented them. You have facts to counter my fact---bring em.

[ryan_cats]

12. Someday, somewhere

Someday, somewhere, someone will design forum software that is threaded so people can see who someone else is replying to and when that happy days arrives, someone else will ignore it.

It most certainly IS a project. I'm not so sure about the clock though.

[trumad]

5. Of course it's a project.

Never said it was a school project but it is a project.

Websters:
noun proj·ect \ˈprä-ˌjekt, -jikt also ˈprō-\
: a planned piece of work that has a specific purpose (such as to find information or to make something new) and that usually requires a lot of time

[The2ndWheel]

20. Alright

And if he does this at home, and that's where it ends, you know what happens? Nothing, because it didn't become an issue because he's Muslim and brown. It became an issue because he brought something like that to school unannounced. Him being Muslin and brown may have contributed to the overreaction by the school and police, but that overreaction is half of the story. An important half, but half nonetheless.

The other half is don't bring a science project to school if it's not a science project. Bad shit has happened in schools. Kids have wanted to use bombs in schools. Nobody knows what anyone is capable of anymore.

[trumad]

27. Seven other kids not named Mohamed who brought homemade clocks to school

(1) Peter Mattis of [Wilmington, North Carolina] wanted to make a clock more complex than a sundial, so he made his own liquid clock. The clock drips green fluid into a container to mark the hour.
Green fluid? Shouldn’t the school have been suspicious about that? What if he’s a terrorist?

(2 & 3) Haley Zinke and Tasha Williams [of Turtle Lake, North Dakota] researched whether or not water clocks kept accurate time. They built their own clock for the project and demonstration.

(4) During the Holloway Elementary School science fair last week, kids crowded around Logan’s exhibit as he explained how he used veggie power to keep track of time. “I tried to get an alarm clock to come on with no batteries,” Logan explained, pointing to copper wires and chunks of potato and lemons. Citric acid in the lemon kept the clock working for hours, but the potato “spuddered” out rather quickly.

(5 & 6) Indy Brumbraugh and Cesar Limas [of Dade City, Florida] also worked together on their “Clock-o-matic,” an alarm clock that squirts water on those not-so-early risers.

(7) “I didn’t know anything about building,” said senior Tori Clark [of Ellis, Kansas], the only girl in the class of 14. “I built a clock in (Carroll’s) industrial tech class last year, and he’s a good teacher so I decided to try this.”
The common thread in all these examples (which Gawker sourced back to news articles in each) is that the children are not named Mohamed, and the vast majority are presumably white.
But what happens when a white kid actually brings a bomb to school? Surely, authorities would take action.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/16/1421901/-Gawker-tells-us-about-seven-other-kids-not-named-Mohammed-who-brought-homemade-clocks-to-school

[The2ndWheel]

38. Another common thread is that they're science projects

Science fair's, invention conventions, etc.

I'm sure there are examples of kids bringing non-science projects to school and getting in trouble for it. Maybe they should list those instead of actual science projects.

[trumad]

42. Ugg!

[LiberalArkie]

47. Yea. I remember kids bringing paintings they have painted to class to show off

because they were proud of what they had done. I remember kids bringing ham radios to class to show them off. Kids used to be able to bring in things they made to show them off. I guess kids are not supposed to TRY to be creative any more. Just DO YOUR JOB and only your job. I guess that is every where now.

[ryan_cats]

46. That is clearly wrong

That is clearly wrong...
(4) During the Holloway Elementary School science fair last week, kids crowded around Logan’s exhibit as he explained how he used veggie power to keep track of time. “I tried to get an alarm clock to come on with no batteries,” Logan explained, pointing to copper wires and chunks of potato and lemons. Citric acid in the lemon kept the clock working for hours, but the potato “spuddered” out rather quickly.

... that someone would hand in a lemon or potatoe based power source as a science project, how original. Kids are lucky I wasn't the judge.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. That's Willfully Obtuse Nonsense

He's into electronics, he is taking science classes, he's proud of his contraption, and he's supposed to hide it in the closet just in case people grotesquely overreact?

[The2ndWheel]

39. Don't bring it to school unannounced

Display it on your front porch if you want. Show it to all the kids on the block. Enter it into a science fair. Don't bring it to school unannounced.

[MohRokTah]

58. You've exposed what you are throughout this thread. eom

[The2ndWheel]

61. What am I?

[Nitram]

76. You sound like a reactionary milquetoast, afraid of his on shadow and...

...totally unaware of the value of play in scientific (and other) learning. The police have already said they knew it wasn't a bomb (never called the bomb squad).

[The2ndWheel]

78. Did anything happen to Mohamed when he made the clock at home?

No. Were his skills and interest in scientific endeavors impeded while making the clock? No. Nobody came to his house to stop him because he's Muslim. Nobody even knew he had the clock at school other than the one teacher. Did his engineering teacher say that he probably shouldn't be showing that clock around school? Yes.

None of that excuses what the school or police did after they figured out what was going on. That was certainly dumb, and may in fact have been racially motivated.

[Nitram]

86. So, 2nd Wheel, did you never bring a creation to school to show a favorite teacher?

I did, more than once. I liked getting validation from teachers I respected.

[ProfessorGAC]

73. Silly! (eom)

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. More fail.

The first person he showed it to was his engineering teacher. His advice: "cool clock but don't show any of the other teachers".

[xmas74]

31. Of course, he did show one teacher earlier that day.

That teacher knew exactly what it was and called it "nice" but said that he shouldn't show anyone else. The reason for the English teacher seeing it was because an alarm went off. He was up front and showed her immediately and she said it looked like a bomb. I've wondered why they didn't ask the first teacher about it?

As to bringing it for no official reason:it's what kids do. I'm the mother of a teenager and she does this stuff all the time. Like Ahmed, she's on the robotics team, along with band and Model U.N. She finds something, whether it's an article or (in a couple of cases, something she thought could be used with robotics) and she brings it to school. She never notifies in advance, she just does it. Like my child I'd bet he was proud of what he'd done and he just wanted to show it off. He wanted a bit of praise and to hear that he was doing a good job. If he'd had that praise with no other issues he more than likely would have taken the clock home and broke it down further in a few days to develop something else with it.

Did the kid think? No, but that's what fourteen year olds do. They don't think. A week ago my daughter's purse fell open on the floor in the living room and her pocket knife fell out. I confiscated it and she became upset. She said that it was something she liked carrying around because it was useful for an electronics class she's in and for robotics. It's the classic Swiss army knife-everything under the sun on it and, in a school where sometimes there isn't enough to go around it's perfect for screwing things in, stripping wires, etc. The problem is that it's also illegal and will not only get an automatic expulsion but a visit to the local PD. She's still mad about me taking her knife and hiding it. She said her teacher knew about it and didn't care but I pointed out that another might.

My point is that kids do stupid shit all the time and just don't think about appearances or possible consequences for their actions. That's what this young man did: he wanted to show something off that he designed (he didn't invent it but he did redesign it, which is fun and cool in it's own right). He wanted the praise from his teacher but didn't think about how others might react. My child did the same but at least she didn't get caught.

[The2ndWheel]

44. And that's why what the school and police did was way over the top

once they figured out what was going on. No need to suspend him, or put him in cuffs. However, it was more than just being Muslim and brown that initiated the whole thing. English teachers may not know what engineering teachers know. If they didn't, the people in charge should've talked to that one teacher.

[xmas74]

54. Now that I will go for.

Everyone should have spoken with each other. He should have been praised for his design but then informed that many don't know what it is upon first glance. He should have been encouraged to design even more and to show them off at school. He also should have been told that next time he brings something to school he needs to contact the office or the SRO first, just to give them a heads up, then drop by the office right before his first class for a pass that gives consent for him to have his project at school. A simple pass would keep confusion at bay and he would still be able to bring his projects to school, with possible praise and recognition from more adults at the school. As a parent if someone said that to me about my child I would comply with no qualms.

[AtheistCrusader]

52. If I suspect something is a bomb, the first place I'd send it is the principals office.

Either the teacher didn't think it was a bomb for one second, or the principal should start watching his or her back, because that teacher is trying to create some attrition.

[xmas74]

59. Exactly.

There is no way they really thought it was a bomb. The first person contacted would have been the principal or the SRO (school resource officer, usually an on-duty police officer assigned to the school). Actually, if I thought it was a bomb I would have evacuated the classroom immediately and then contacted the principal or the SRO.

I've never quite understood the timeline given or how it was handled. It goes against everything that most are taught. After this happened I asked my kid about bomb threats and her response was that the classroom would have been evacuated immediately, with the bomb left in the room.

My point was for the people who have said that he should have known better, that he should have left it at home. My point is that kid's do dumb shit and don't think about appearance or consequences. It's expected of them; that's how they learn. It's the adults in the situation who were out of control.

[tblue37]

85. This: they didn't think it was a bomb, but they immediately spotted its potential as n excuse, a

plausible justification for teaching a Muslim kid "his place."

[ryan_cats]

87. I would have too

I would have too. I never like the principal anyway.

[AtheistCrusader]

49. Takes me about 2 seconds to look at that and see there's no payload of any sort.

It's just a fucking clock. Not a big deal.

(Should tape up those 110v connections though. Safety Third!)

[pnwmom]

67. So what? Most kids who feel ENGAGED in learning have at some point brought

something to school that wasn't an "official" project.

Good teachers love to have those kids.

[alarimer]

3. I like taking things apart; I'm just lousy at putting them back together

So I don't do it.

[TM99]

4. It is not necessary to make this kid

a genius.

He has brown skin.

His name is Mohammed.

He experienced ethnic and religious bigotry and discrimination. He was falsely arrested and the school should suffer consequences for their outrageous over-reaction.

[trumad]

7. Oh don't tell that to some here...

Oh no sir eeeee...

[TM99]

8. I have seen that in other threads.

[treestar]

15. This is true

It seems to be a part of the human mind to have to re-write the story to get the most emotional pull out of it.

Wring out all nuance until we are at the extremes. Even if the kid didn't do anything particularly fantastic, the story is still there. But we have to add the genius being squelched part or the story does not have enough drama. I think we've let Hollywood take over.

Reminds me of arguing with say right wingers and Obama is a Marxist. I say to them can't you oppose Obama unless he's a Marxist? Aren't you admitting that being a liberal is not good enough to argue against, so you have to exaggerate him into a Marxist? And any other time when people insist on an extreme label rather than recognize differences in degree.

[TM99]

18. We are definitely in agreement here. n/t

[SidDithers]

30. Well said...nt

Sid

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. That Ahmed is sooo stupid...

What does that say about the english teacher that pulled the bomb alarm after seeing it?

Sure, it's not a work of creative genius, it's a first step of satisfying the curiosity that will enable him to take the next step.

This looks like something I would have done at his age.

[trumad]

13. +1

[MohRokTah]

19. Except no "bomb alarm" was ever pulled.

IF they truly thought it was a bomb, the school would have been immediately evacuated, it was not.

If they thought it was a bomb, the bomb squad would have been brought in immediately. They were not.

If they thought it was a bomb the teacher, principal, and Ahmed would NOT have been sitting in the office with the device while they waited on the police. They did.

IF they thought it was a bomb, the cops would not have interrogated the kid with the device mere feet away. They did.

Not one God Damned person in a position of authority honestly believed it was a bomb.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. Okay. She pulled the "curious boy" alarm.

Since both alarms result in handcuffs, they're obviously comparable crimes.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. Good One, Jeff

"Obviously comparable crimes". Well played!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. I've disassembled quite a few electronic devices in my day by removing their outer casings.

Alas, none of them have been intentional on my part.

What grade do I get?

[hobbit709]

11. I took tons of things apart when I was a kid.

Some of them I was able to get working, some not. But I learned a lot about basic electronics that way.
And that was at a time when the basic home radio had tubes in it, not transistors.

[cigsandcoffee]

14. This is an actual suitcase bomb:

Sorry, but I'm still not as quick as most other folks to jump all over the teachers, administration, and police for taking Ahmed down for questioning. I think they well knew it wasn't a bomb, but probably wanted to know if it is something he was capable of building.

[lumberjack_jeff]

24. Fail.

It's a triggering device for building demolition.

Unlike Ahmed's clock, the flip down cover also helpfully includes switches labeled "armed" and "ka-boom".

[ProfessorGAC]

34. The Actual Detonating Chemical Is Not In That Case

Sorry, but you're wrong.

[Gore1FL]

62. That briefcase is many times larger than a pencil case. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

71. That's just embarrassing. But hey, you did say you aren't quick.

So, truth in advertising.

[gollygee]

80. Wow, look how huge that is and what a large amount of electronic stuff is in it!

Looks nothing like Ahmed's small clock with just a few electronics at all.

[FSogol]

16. All the adults involved should be ashamed. What a bunch of morons.

From Kris Straub's Chainsawsuit:

[AlbertCat]

45. This ^

Scared silly by the media....adults try to invigorate their dull boring TX lives by acting all official and serious and stuff!

[spanone]

17. the kid showed initiative and they put him in handcuffs.

if his name was biff and he was blond and blue-eyed, he would have been rewarded.

[GeorgeGist]

21. Small minds all around.

Amhed has left the building.

[Snobblevitch]

22. This kid was treated badly.

He should have had enough sense to not bring his 'clock' to school. If he wished to show it off, he should have brought it to his teacher who then kept it until after school and the the kid should have just brought it home.

[MohRokTah]

26. That's so much BULLSHIT!

Kids bring harmless shit to school every day.

Unless you're one of those who believe bringing harmless shit to school while Muslim is a crime.

[Snobblevitch]

33. I don't care what his religion is.

It was a mistake for him to bring that thing to school.

[countingbluecars]

36. I hope you are not a teacher! n/t

[MohRokTah]

37. The kid made NO mistake.

And you've now convinced me you think it's okay to target Muslims for bringing harmless shit to school.

[niyad]

40. WHY?

[B Calm]

75. Mistake? If they really were suspicious, why wasn't a bomb squad called in?

[The2ndWheel]

48. Kids have also brought, or wanted to bring, harmful things to school

Once everyone knew what was going on, there's no discipline needed. The whole thing wasn't handled too well by the adults involved. That doesn't change anything about kids having done bad shit in school.

[MohRokTah]

53. MORE BULLSHIT!!!!!

Not one person in authority in that school believed the kid brought a bomb, least of all the teacher who dragged him and the clock to the principal.

[trumad]

29. Huh?

[ProfessorGAC]

35. Yeah, What Tru Said? Huh?

[xmas74]

41. Kids do dumb things and don't think.

For everyone saying that he shouldn't have taken it to school that's what I say. Kids do dumb shit and just don't think about how it might appear.

He redesigned a clock. His dad said he used it every day. He was on the robotics team. Initial reports said that he showed that instructor and she said it was "nice" and not to show anyone else that day. It was when an alarm went off in English class that this whole mess happened.

Kids do dumb things. They don't think about how something will appear. They still crave that almost instant gratification. He was proud of what he'd designed. (yep, I said designed, not invented. Designing is very cool.) He wanted to show it off. The first teacher also didn't think. Maybe she should have offered to keep it, for safety's sake, until the end of the school day. That didn't happen and he toted it around the rest of the day, not thinking about its appearance. When everything went down the first teacher doesn't seem to have been contacted to clear the whole thing up. That's another mistake made.

I posted something in another part of this thread about my own dealing with my teenage daughter. She's also done stupid shit, taken things to school with no intention of harm whatsoever but things that in this day and age will get you expelled. Why would she do this? Because kids don't think about the consequences.

Luckily for Ahmed, this situation will end up being the best thing that ever could have happened to him. He's coming out of this in a better situation than he ever would have without this situation and the attention. Others haven't been so lucky. This is more common than most would think. Kids do something against the rules with no intention to harm whatsoever and adults blow it way out of proportion. That's the nature of being a child: you make mistakes and then you learn from them. In his case, if there hadn't been massive social media and media attention, his mistake would have cost him dearly. He was arrested, fingerprinted and possibly could have been prosecuted. All for something that could have been cleared up by having the principal and the SRO speak with the first instructor he showed it to, telling him he did a great job but explaining why they have to be careful about what is brought into the school and then telling him that next time he creates something to simply let the principal, the vice principal or the SRO know that he wants to bring it to school. That's all they had to do and I'm sure his parents would have respected that decision, compared to what did happen.

[eppur_se_muova]

43. Um, "walla" ? A quick Google search brings up the Urban Dictionary entry ...

(their non-PC wording, not mine):

Walla is a word used by retarded Americans who don't know any foreign languages and barely know their own. The correct word they are looking for is "voila", which loosely translates as "here it is", "there you go", or similar meanings.

Of course, the word voila properly pronounced in French sounds a bit like "vwalla", but with the "v" in front pronounced softly, almost like an "f". Being stupid Americans though, they can't pronounce anything which doesn't sound 100% English (not that they can pronounce English either) so in their incredibly lazy way, they don't even try to pronounce it correctly.

Want to see a stupid retarded American? points at self Walla!

So I was on a cruise around the world and we were heading towards American territory again. This lady on the ship asked me who the stupidest people in the world are. So I pointed at America and said "Walla!"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=walla&defid=1114750

Actually, there are some other interesting things you discover by Googling "walla".

[oberliner]

50. Poster probably meant "voila" but didn't know how to spell it

That's just a guess though.

[eppur_se_muova]

56. It's from the original post at Make, not the DU poster ...

But yes, that's what the body of the UD entry says.

[trumad]

65. I think I said it..

And admit I spelled it wrong. ☺️

[eppur_se_muova]

68. Oops, no offense intended.

I guess one should be more careful with Urban Dictionary, knowing ...

[trumad]

70. No worries

[d_r]

60. I really don't like the way

that uses "retarded."

[eppur_se_muova]

63. Urban Dictionary has lots worse language than that in places ...

I was assuming most on DU were familiar with UD, and know that clicking on that post may bring up something offensive.

[d_r]

66. I'm just saying

you quoted it here so I get to say.

[MADem]

72. Cough... **** cough ****

The world does not revolve around European paradigms, anymore!

The French "Voila!" and the Arabic "Walla!" can often be used as a similar interjection in a sentence.

Maybe the "retarded" (such a deliberately offensive term, and let me be VERY clear-- I do object to it) person is the one who doesn't understand that there exists a HUGE number of Arabic speaking people in the world who do not default to French as their first thought when hearing this term.

[SoapBox]

51. If it was a suspected bomb...

Why didn't they evacuate the school and send in the bomb squad?

[MohRokTah]

55. PRECISELY!

Not single person in that school or any of the cops believed it was a bomb.

[Bucky]

84. No, overreacting is just what the terrorists want!! If it was really a terrorist bomb...

the only patriotic thing to do would be to go shopping.

[randys1]

57. Brown Muslim is what matters in this story. Attitude of the police and mayor not apologizing, and

so on.

If a white kid does this, none of this happens and if it does apologies all around.

Or, if you (not addressed to the OP) contend this reaction by the school was appropriate, how in the world could you also say you are good with the ability of so many people to own and carry guns.

[oberliner]

64. "There’s a lot of discussion still ongoing — some of it about STEM, some of it about race.

All of this is good; today’s a day when a child’s arrest forced many overdue conversations to happen."

That's from your link - and I agree. Let's not be afraid to have conversations.

[L. Coyote]

69. A word of advice for anyone visiting Texas, where time stands still.

[Glassunion]

74. Some food for thought.

First, the story was presented to all of us with a headline similar to the following... "14 Year Old Muslim Kid Arrested for Bringing a Clock to School". Now the media is great at framing stories. If the headline instead read something to the effect of "Suspicious Device Brought to School, One Student Arrested". Now I'm being 100% honest, that if I saw a picture of the clock after reading the first headline (which I did), I'd have the thought of how ridiculous the administration at the school was for their actions. Now (still being honest), if I had seen a picture of the clock after reading the second headline, I'd be more suspicious of the device.

That said, under both circumstances, I believe that the school administrators are still idiots. They handled this situation quite poorly, and in all likelihood, if it was a white kid who brought the device to school, nothing would have happened.

Taken all by itself, the device is not clear in its purpose. I'm familiar (not an expert) with electronics and their function. This particular device is, if simply taken for its components, not glaringly apparent as to its function. If you feel that it is (glaringly apparent), then please build one yourself, then try to board a plane with it packed in your carry-on and report back to the group the results of your TSA screening.

Not every science project looks that same... Which of these would you not have a problem if a child brought them to school? Which one of these would you have a problem with?

[moondust]

77. "It took six classes before anything happened." - Mark Cuban

On Bill Maher's show Cuban told the story he got from people in Irving who said the teachers in Ahmed's first few classes that day all said the clock looked good. Several classes later some teacher apparently freaked out. So a number of people saw the thing and all assumed it was harmless except one who then raised the alarm? And that's who the adminstrators and cops chose to believe over the better judgment of all the others?

[BlueStateLib]

79. Ahmed's clock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=18&v=kHk_6Vh4Qeo

[trumad]

81. Your point?

[4139]

82. If he was in the 4th or 5th grade I would agree with you and by the way

The pencil box was much bigger than the original clock so "fitting it in" was easy.

All he did was take the casing off and expand where the parts were placed

[trumad]

83. No one said it was a first rate project.

I do appreciate the video showing how it was made because that even makes it look much less like a bomb.