• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Kids Arrested For Burping, Spilling Milk, Etc.

Not sure what "new" story you're referring to. There appears to have been some confusion over the sequence of events and number of teachers involved - such confusion was not limited to me as the discussion on this thread shows.

The background story re: Ahmed's father is new I think - or at least wasn't reported until a few days after the story broke.

To repeat: I'm not spinning for the school, or blaming the victim, or whatever else I'm being accused of on this thread. I'm simply expressing scepticism about the way this story has been handled by the media. That scepticism is based on the way similar shock horror stories involving race, religion (particularly Islam) or other "identity" type issues have been reported in the past. The "diet coke/Islamaphobic flight attendant" may be the most recent example but there have been plenty of others. The fact that the kid's father is a noted self-publicist who has courted the media with bizarre stunts in the past adds to my scepticism that all is not quite what it appears.

All I'm saying is: don't let critical faculties go out of the window because someone mentions the "r" word.

If you have any evidence that the boys father incited him to instigate a bomb hoax then please produce it.

This is different from the diet coke situation as the boy was actually arrested detained by his teachers, and taken away in handcuffs. He was then illegally questioned without a parent or guardian present. Yiou actually criticised him for maintaining his right to silence. He said that the clock was a clock. It would have been foolish of him to say anything else given the hostility he was enduring.
 
CPLuVfmUwAAgfFc.jpg


Did Muslim 'Clock Boy' Perpetrate Hoax?

(...)

Turns out that 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed of Irving, Texas, never invented a clock, and had no reason to bring the suspicious-looking device to school. But everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to President Obama was fooled by what appears to have been a hoax designed to muster sympathy for Muslims accused of terrorism, while putting police on their heels and undermining the "see something, say something" directive for citizen vigilance. Here's the real story:

(...)

• The family's spokesperson is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a terror-tied group that in 2006 sued US Airways for kicking several Muslim activists off a flight for behaving suspiciously and rattling passengers — a stunt that looks eerily similar.

Still, the Mohamed family is headed not only to the White House, but also the United Nations, where
Ahmed will be held up as the poster boy of "Islamophobia." A vacation in Saudi Arabia will follow after the
family collects some $10,000 in crowdfunding.


http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/092215-772291-did-muslim-clock-boy-perpetrate-hoax.htm

A vacation in Saudi Arabia will follow after the family collects some $10,000 in crowdfunding.

That $10,000 is bound to come in handy, considering that Akmet's perfectly normal father only has two companies (one named "Twin Towers", the other named "Jet").
 
The issue is that the case has become a cause célèbre in America's culture wars.

On the one hand we have the diversity obsessed, identity politics crowd determined to prove Ahmed as a misunderstood Muslim genius suffering at the hands of evil whitey. Backing up this side we have the CAIR grievance mongers and the rest of the Islamophobia industry; the bulk of the mainstream media; Tumblr and a bunch of hashtag warriors; and an increasingly absurd POTUS.

On the other we have conservative, often Tea Party types who claim that Ahmed's father is a Muslim extremist and that teachers were genuinely alarmed by the device, which they now claim had a countdown clock (there doesn't appear to be any evidence at all for this). This side is backed up by an array of bloggers and Internet celebrities as well as the odd right wing politician.

As ever, the truth almost certainly lies somewhere in the middle. The "clock" itself was a pretty poor piece of engineering, apparently consisting of the guts of an 80s alarm clock bring shoved into a miniature briefcase. If outrage at Ahmed's arrest can be suspended for a moment, I think most neutral observers would agree it could be a prop from a Die Hard film. Ahmed himself, in an early interview, admitted that it looked suspicious, and that was why he had sealed it with cable (?!).

Ramon is quite right that the school could not have believed it was a real bomb, as they did not evacuate the building. It's quite possible, though, that they thought it was a stupid stunt and police were called either to give Ahmed a fright and/or because, as JamesWhitehead suggests, there was a protocol that had to be followed.

The police claim that Ahmed's "passive aggressive" answers to questions led to his arrest. They have also indicated that the transcript of the interview would make things much clearer, but that the family have refused permission for this to be released.

The kid's father is not an Islamic extremist - he follows a form of Sufism and had in the past argued for Islam to reform to reflect the modern world. I raised an eyebrow at "Twin Towers Transportation" as well, but it seems that the company is based in an office block called "Twin Towers" so probably not at all suspicious or odd. What is clear, though, is that the father is an oddball who courts the media with bizarre stunts and has delusions of being a political and religious leader. People who have interviewed Ahmed have reported that he appears to be being fed answers by his sister, who now claims she was also suspended from school for an alleged bomb hoax.

Ramon asks if I have evidence that the father/family somehow put Ahmed up to it or otherwise engineered the situation. I don't. But that doesn't mean that I have to accept the first narrative set out above and it doesn't preclude me from looking at what evidence there is and querying whether there might not be something else going on here. In the same way that I and others on the board have expressed scepticism about aspects of the Madeleine McCann, case, for example. Or, indeed, pretty much any of the "conspiracy" threads on here. Or "Balloon Boy", which is mentioned above... the fact that the father in that case was also a media-obsessed oddball was what got people asking questions in the first place.
 
The issue is that the case has become a cause célèbre in America's culture wars.
The instant I saw this 'news item' unfold I was highly suspicious, and every one of my initial interpretations/predictions has come true.

If you're seeking a level-headed objective analysis of the whole pantomime, invest 10 minutes in watching this simple monologue

The bottom line is, from the whole thing, no-one benefits.

The boy is clearly a patsy, not a prodigy. The father is a displaced political wannabe (alongside a mother who apparently runs a PR company) and they have either failed in running a real-world racial discrimination entrapment, or we simply see yet-another example of fictional media soap operatics.

Obama looks like a manipulated fool, as does the MIT professor and others that have clamoured to lavish praise upon the boy, offering potential scholarships etc

I constantly have to remind myself (not others, because people must become aware themselves so as to independantly stop believing in all that they see and hear)....just because we cannot identify the direction/strategy/purpose of easily-discernable false fables such as this one, we shouldn't place our faith upon other stories, just because they are more complex and realistic.

The majority of 'big' stories that are spun within the mainstream media are just fairytales. It worries me more when my daily dose of propaganda is as perceptably-false as this one....not only was it far too easily unpicked, it makes a fool of everyone, consumer/producer alike. I'm always alert to identifying what the true agenda might be: there is a constant risk that in so doing, I miss the check-mate move.
 
Quake42 said:
Ramon is quite right that the school could not have believed it was a real bomb, as they did not evacuate the building. It's quite possible, though, that they thought it was a stupid stunt and police were called either to give Ahmed a fright and/or because, as JamesWhitehead suggests, there was a protocol that had to be followed.


Bomb recognition is probably not a skill taught in most teacher college courses.
It is quite possible that the principal should have evacuated the building, but in the sudden uncertainty and confusion of the moment failed to do so. It is certain that the English teacher didn't know what to think, when he or she saw the device.

What should a high school principal do in a situation like that, anyway? Imagine the principal at that moment. Around him, a building full of teenagers and staff. Before him, young Master Mohamed, dead-eyed and leering, with an object that looks exactly like a bomb.

(Perhaps the principal turns to the teacher and quietly says "Start getting these kids out of here."
But then perhaps dear little Ahmed shouts "God is Great!" and presses a button...)

Is there even a hard and fast rule anywhere in the world about what to do regarding suicide bombers with hostages?
 
I think from reports (unreliable evidence at best, but..) that the boy has carried this repackaged 1980s digital clock from class to class, and that teachers have interpreted it as a stage-prop non-bomb. Reportedly his technology class teacher told him that it was an ambiguous device that could be misinterpreted as being a bomb.

The final straw is being sold to us as the alarm buzzer going off in his English class. We've no idea about this child's possible previous antics at this school, but note that he did say during the supported stage-managed press conference that he was moving schools, to one where his genius would not be rebuked. I think there's either callous/calculated parenting going on, or the entire thing (clock, kid, Syrian dad) is a media construct.
 
Well, as some people seem incapable of listening, I've removed sixteen posts from public view, dreeness gets a warning for flaming, and I will be speaking with others privately.

Until we have the full picture this thread will just continue to veer about in a counter-productive manner - as a result this thread will remain closed until the court case, hopefully, relates the true events and intentions.
 
As things have moved on a bit, I have reopened this thread. Please keep it civil, everyone, or I shall be forced to just shut it for good (and ad homs will be dealt with, no matter from whom.)

The Texas boy arrested for bringing to school a homemade clock that was mistaken for a bomb is moving to Qatar, his family said on Tuesday, a few hours after he was at the White House for an astronomy night hosted by Barack Obama.

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, a ninth-grader who was arrested for reasons his supporters said were influenced by bias against his Muslim religion, has accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to study at its young innovators program.

His family said in a statement: “This means, that we, as a family, will relocate to Qatar where Ahmed will receive a full scholarship for secondary and undergraduate education.”

The teenager, who dabbles in robotics and had attended a Dallas-area high school, was thrust into the spotlight in September and his family has been travelling the globe to meet dignitaries ever since...

Click.
 
Hmm. Qatar doesn't strike me as the best place for a budding scientist. Not known for its space programme. May end up being a disappointment for Ahmed.
 
I think this probably belongs here - South Carolina girl thrown across classroom for refusing to leave her desk:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34644373

A US sheriff's department says it has begun an investigation after videos emerged, apparently showing an officer throwing a female pupil across a classroom.

The incident is said to have happened at the Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina.

Lt Curtis Wilson of Richland County Sheriff Department told a press conference that the student had refused to leave the classroom.

Stories like this act to remind me that, whatever we might think of the law enforcement agencies in the UK, we're mainly fortunate to have pretty sensible and restrained people working in the police. It really seems to me that in the US, many of those in the police or sheriff's departments have joined up simply to let off some pent-up aggression in the direction of anyone who annoys them.
 
I think this probably belongs here - South Carolina girl thrown across classroom for refusing to leave her desk:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34644373



Stories like this act to remind me that, whatever we might think of the law enforcement agencies in the UK, we're mainly fortunate to have pretty sensible and restrained people working in the police. It really seems to me that in the US, many of those in the police or sheriff's departments have joined up simply to let off some pent-up aggression in the direction of anyone who annoys them.

I saw this on Twitter this morning and was pretty appalled. There was, it's true, only 15 seconds of footage and it wasn't clear what had transpired before the filming started, but it's hard to imagine what would possess anyone to knock a teenage girl out of her chair and drag her across the floor. Even if she was mouthing off, she was clearly no threat to the cop or anyone else.

Apparently the policeman is based at the school - the fact that there's a need for this at all is very depressing.
 
I think this probably belongs here - South Carolina girl thrown across classroom for refusing to leave her desk:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34644373

Stories like this act to remind me that, whatever we might think of the law enforcement agencies in the UK, we're mainly fortunate to have pretty sensible and restrained people working in the police. It really seems to me that in the US, many of those in the police or sheriff's departments have joined up simply to let off some pent-up aggression in the direction of anyone who annoys them.

I wonder whether this is a symptom of a change in attitudes towards law enforcement in the USA. One generally does what ones told, smartly and politely - or risk being manhandled, something officers are used to but perhaps attitudes are changing in the US and those used to having their commands smartly obeyed are being challenged by the new generation, who are perhaps quite rightly (if not always wisely) asking "Why?".
 
I was once picked up by a teacher and thrown through the air into another group of kids. I was a cheeky little sod though to be fair to him/meet him half way on that one. He's lucky I didn't tell my Dad though. I know exactly what my Dad would have done to him. I was also once giving a detention for farting loudly enough to make other kids laugh. It wasn't deliberate so my Mum called the school and got my detention cancelled :).
 
Hmm. Qatar doesn't strike me as the best place for a budding scientist. Not known for its space programme. May end up being a disappointment for Ahmed.
Or Ahmed may end up being a disappointment. Taught science by people who hate science. Hmmm.
 
Or Ahmed may end up being a disappointment. Taught science by people who hate science. Hmmm.

He really didn't have to travel overseas to do that though, did he - plenty of people in the US have an issue with 'science' too, you only have to check out some of the threads here to see that. (I'd recommend Chris Mooney's, The Republican war on Science - pretty frightening stuff.)

Although, to be fair I, I don't think any of these people really have a problem with science, per se - just the science which doesn't fit. Which is sometimes quite a lot.
 
A US police officer has been fired after video showing him throwing a female student across a classroom became an internet sensation.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Wednesday that Senior Deputy Ben Fields had been sacked.

He was a school resource officer at the school in South Carolina.

He "should not have thrown a student - he could have done a lot of things he was trained to do, he was not trained to throw a student", Mr Lott said.

The incident occurred at the Spring Valley High School in Columbia, witnesses said, when the unnamed African-American student refused to put away her mobile phone and then refused to leave the classroom.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-ca...ng&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central
 
Apparently the policeman is based at the school - the fact that there's a need for this at all is very depressing.

Quake, just so you know - my cousin's daughter, a very sweet, shy 14 year old at the time, was absent from school a few days while she had the flu. When she returned, she did not have a doctor's note to excuse her absence. The police arrived, arrested and handcuffed her in front of her classmates and took her away to jail. The girl had not done anything besides having an unexcused absence. That was 10 years ago, and students being arrested for similar offenses was already on the upswing at that time.

The cell phone video doesn't surprise me in the slightest. At this point, I'm more surprised that anyone is surprised.

Not everyone will agree that the "school-to-prison-pipeline" exists or is a real issue, but I do feel there was evidence of it in the school district where we used to live, as well as one of the schools in our current district. We have had to warn our kids that even minor, seemingly silly infractions may have long term negative effects, so to watch themselves, even when they think they're being funny. Sadly, this isn't paranoia, it's the way things are these days.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School-to-prison_pipeline
 
The arrest is insane enough, but why would they need to handcuff her? The police don't handcuff everybody they arrest, only those who present a violent risk.

Also, is it illegal for a 14-year-old not to attend school in the U.S.? I may be wrong, but I thought that in the UK it would be the parent breaking the law, not the child.
 
The arrest is insane enough, but why would they need to handcuff her? The police don't handcuff everybody they arrest, only those who present a violent risk.

Also, is it illegal for a 14-year-old not to attend school in the U.S.? I may be wrong, but I thought that in the UK it would be the parent breaking the law, not the child.

Not so. Although it is the parent's legal responsibility to provide an education, it doesn't have to be in school:

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 said:
The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable—

(a)to his age, ability and aptitude, and

(b)to any special educational needs he may have,

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

The last two words are key.
 
Yes, of course. I was using 'go to school' as shorthand for be educated; nonetheless, it is the parents' responsibility, is it not?

A child couldn't be arrested in the UK for not being educated for not receiving education.
 
Ah, sorry; I am perhaps over-sensitive to the distinction between schooling and education.

I gather truancy patrols still operate, although perhaps less frequently than hitherto. Google seems to suggest that, although it is not a formal power of arrest, the police can remove a young person to a place of safety, the latter often understood as being their school (which begs a number of questions...) I wonder what happens if the young person expresses the wish not to be so removed..?
 
Quake, just so you know - my cousin's daughter, a very sweet, shy 14 year old at the time, was absent from school a few days while she had the flu. When she returned, she did not have a doctor's note to excuse her absence. The police arrived, arrested and handcuffed her in front of her classmates and took her away to jail. The girl had not done anything besides having an unexcused absence. That was 10 years ago, and students being arrested for similar offenses was already on the upswing at that time.

I'm not sure if we have a *shock* emoji but that's really all I want to express at that. Absolutely appalling. I hope the girl was okay after her ordeal.
 
Truancy is now handled mostly by schools themselves, though I gather kids out of school during term time are stopped and questioned by the law, even when accompanied by adults.

In most schools, any unexplained absence will be picked up on quickly - a register, usually digital, is taken every lesson. Phone calls home or visits follow. Requests for holidays during term time are at the discretion of the Head Teacher. Most say no. I recall one who turned down a request for a half-day absence before a holiday, so the family could take an afternoon flight! Anything less than around 97% attendance is frowned on.

We don't need no handcuffs: presenteeism is one of those statistics that can be enforced quite strictly. :rolleyes:
 
The arrest is insane enough, but why would they need to handcuff her? The police don't handcuff everybody they arrest, only those who present a violent risk.

It's up to the arresting officers whether they handcuff or not, though they generally do. There was so much about that situation that was boggling though. Very heavy handed, IMO, and up to that point, we were not aware at all that a student could be arrested for returning to school without a doctor's excuse. Honestly, I'm not sure even now what law she was supposed to have broken. :confused:

In our state, children have to be registered at a school or registered with the school authorities as being home-schooled. That's to the best of my knowledge, anyway. It probably varies from state to state.
Here, parents can be arrested for their children's truancy - which made what happened to my cousin's child even more startling.

Also, is it illegal for a 14-year-old not to attend school in the U.S.? I may be wrong, but I thought that in the UK it would be the parent breaking the law, not the child.

Oops, I managed to quote your post out of order. Sorry. See above.
I'm not sure if we have a *shock* emoji but that's really all I want to express at that. Absolutely appalling. I hope the girl was okay after her ordeal.

Unfortunately, the incident was very humiliating for her. She became more withdrawn and eventually left school at 16. I suppose she'd lost her trust in them, considering that they'd punished her for, basically, showing up.
 
Ahmed Mohamed demands $15m compensation and written apology for homemade clock arrest
Lawyers for the teenager's family said they will file a civil suit in 60 days if officials fail to comply
The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texan schoolboy who was arrested after taking a homemade clock to school, has demanded $15m in compensation and written apologies from the local mayor and police chief.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...ation-for-homemade-clock-arrest-a6745706.html

Is that what this was really about? Money?
 
Back
Top