MacArthur High School freshman arrested for making a clock "bomb"

[L.T. Fan]

Since when does bringing a clock to school fall under "zero tolerance" man you are reaching on this one.

And people keep ignoring the fact that the never evacuated the school or called for a bomb squad so they knew it was not a bomb.

Beats me. Ask Clay. He is the one that seems to think that the system doesn't allow for judgement.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Speaking of reaching... That statement would be a little misleading, wouldn't you say? Of course there wouldn't be a zero tolerance policy for bringing a clock to school. Now, bringing something with a bunch of wires and a digital display packed into a case? Yeah, I could see that. And that's what this whole thing boils down to. Be honest... If you saw that thing for the first time, in person, would your first thought be that it was a clock?

Your response is too sensible for Jiggy. He just wanted to pounce on my response to Clay.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Since when does bringing a clock to school fall under "zero tolerance" man you are reaching on this one.

And people keep ignoring the fact that the never evacuated the school or called for a bomb squad so they knew it was not a bomb.

Since they called it a "hoax bomb", I.E. something that isn't a bomb that looks enough like one to cause alarm, I'm betting it falls under their overall policy for bomb threats, which I'm betting is essentially written as a zero-tolerance policy even if that phrase doesn't exactly appear in the wording.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Speaking of reaching... That statement would be a little misleading, wouldn't you say? Of course there wouldn't be a zero tolerance policy for bringing a clock to school. Now, bringing something with a bunch of wires and a digital display packed into a case? Yeah, I could see that. And that's what this whole thing boils down to. Be honest... If you saw that thing for the first time, in person, would your first thought be that it was a clock?

Yes I would, because I have seen those types of clocks before and realize nerds love them.

And this still does not address the issue of why the school or police never acted like this was a bomb and still decided to have him arrested.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Since they called it a "hoax bomb", I.E. something that isn't a bomb that looks enough like one to cause alarm, I'm betting it falls under their overall policy for bomb threats, which I'm betting is essentially written as a zero-tolerance policy even if that phrase doesn't exactly appear in the wording.

Actually that makes sense but he never proclaimed it as a bomb so saying hoax bomb is still reaching.

My issue is with him being handcuffed and sent to detention, even if you want to use the zero tolerance excuse you just send the kid home and suspend him.

 

[NoDak]

Yes I would, because I have seen those types of clocks before and realize nerds love them.

Sure. And we all believe you, too.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Actually that makes sense but he never proclaimed it as a bomb so saying hoax bomb is still reaching.

My issue is with him being handcuffed and sent to detention, even if you want to use the zero tolerance excuse you just send the kid home and suspend him.

I don't think you'd need to declare it a bomb for it to be a hoax bomb, I think it just has to look enough like one to cause alarm and it did. I'd bet my house that if you brought a toy gun to that school you wouldn't have to declare "this is a gun!" to either get arrested or shot depending on how freaked out the cop was and how realistic it looked.

I don't think zero tolerance is an excuse, I think it's a problem in our society that we seem to need to come up with these big knee jerk actions to pretend we're doing things to keep people safe, that don't make us a bit safer, like molesting everyone who comes into the airport (or "random" ones) even though plenty of examples have shown that it's still easy for a determined person to get shit right by them.

 

[Cotton]

Sure. And we all believe you, too.

Yeah, there's no way a person could look at that and the first thought that comes to their mind be, "Oh look, wotta cool clock!"

 

[Jiggyfly]

Sure. And we all believe you, too.

They are called Digital circuit clocks.

Here are a few examples.

There are plenty of DIY kits online.

 

[BipolarFuk]

Even Bill Maher said it looked like a fucking bomb.

 

[NoDak]

They are called Digital circuit clocks.

Here are a few examples.

Awesome. But I noticed none of those examples had wires hanging out every where, and weren't packed into a case.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Awesome. But I noticed none of those examples had wires hanging out every where, and weren't packed into a case.

Ok.

 

[Carp]

Does anyone know where I can get a digital circuit clock?

 

[Clay_Allison]

Kind of hilarious that people are so wrapped up in what bombs look like in movies that they think a real one would look like a clock with a digital countdown to build suspense.

 

[townsend]

Kind of hilarious that people are so wrapped up in what bombs look like in movies that they think a real one would look like a clock with a digital countdown to build suspense.

This would also set off some red flags.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Kind of hilarious that people are so wrapped up in what bombs look like in movies that they think a real one would look like a clock with a digital countdown to build suspense.

I think that is the problem. People don't know what bombs look like aside from Hollywood's version in movies, etc. Almost all of them are depicted with a digital clock and circuitry. That's the connotation one gets of abomb.

 

[townsend]

As far as I can tell a bomb can look like anything. In an era where IEDs are all the rage they could be just as suspicious of a brown paper bag, or an old cell phone.

I suspect that in a different era someone might have a 7-segment display on a bomb, because you'd need it to set a timer.

 

[L.T. Fan]

As far as I can tell a bomb can look like anything. In an era where IEDs are all the rage they could be just as suspicious of a brown paper bag, or an old cell phone.

I suspect that in a different era someone might have a 7-segment display on a bomb, because you'd need it to set a timer.

How many outside of being in the military and intelligence community would know about IEDs. Can't see the average school teacher knowing what a bomb is supposed to look like unlessit was a pipe bomb.

 

[townsend]

How many outside of being in the military and intelligence community would know about IEDs. Can't see the average school teacher knowing what a bomb is supposed to look like unlessit was a pipe bomb.

It depends, there are a lot of people interested in warfare, I suspect the average laymen at least understands what an IED is. Thanks to video games, movies, and CNN.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Hate to break your bubble but I'm not sure the average layman plays a lot of video games. That pastime seems to be with 30 and under for the most part.