14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School • Hacker News Board

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#651

Post by jameshart » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

slg wrote: post #635

jameshart wrote: post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course the difference here is Woz both fully intended mischief, knew he could get in trouble, but in general had the expectation that he would get away with it in the long term.

Ahmed will "get away with it in the long term" as well. He will probably be even better off after this episode. He is going to have the attention of all sorts of great people including the president. But of course that isn't particularly the problem here. When something like this comes up and catches our attention, there is outrage until that specific situation is fixed. We all pat ourselves on the back for helping t…

Yeah... becoming a media celebrity and political football two weeks into high school is totally going to be nothing but rainbows and kittens for a geeky muslim kid who has made his town government and police look stupid.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#652

Post by hdctambien » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #375

cschneid wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the teacher level, they are underpaid. My girlfriend is a high school teacher w/ 4 years experience, a masters degree in her topic, and works 12+ hours a day (not kidding, seriously all day). She makes $35k / year. If she wasn't lucky enough to have an engineer paycheck behind her life, she simply wouldn't be able to do the job. It's likely that funding gets allocated in stupid ways, but the whole process is inher…

At the teacher level, they are underpaid. My girlfriend is a high school teacher w/ 4 years experience, a masters degree in her topic, and works 12+ hours a day (not kidding, seriously all day). She makes $35k / year. How much do teachers in her school system who have 25 years experience make? The union-mandated tenure system, which prevents young, talented teachers from making even vaguely competitive salaries, but…

In my school district[0] teachers start at $43,500 and max out at $63,688 (after 30 years and a PhD)

You can pick up some extra stipends if you coach or work in certian departments (STEM) but good luck getting into 6 digits as a Teacher.

When I taught in Massachusetts (where we have a teacher union)[1] pay starts at $36,400 and maxes out at $74,000 (with a PhD) after 19 years.

Turns out that public school salary information is public information. So if you "know" a teacher that is making 6 digits, I challenge you to look up their pay scale and see if you really know what you think you know.

[0] https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B27mc-sxcu8ldW9OTHlLMjZ0SlU... [1] http://www.pittsfield.net/UserFiles/Servers/Server_1051846/F...

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#653

Post by hdctambien » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:55 PM UTC

kdamken wrote: post #473

twoodfin wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the teacher level, they are underpaid. My girlfriend is a high school teacher w/ 4 years experience, a masters degree in her topic, and works 12+ hours a day (not kidding, seriously all day). She makes $35k / year. How much do teachers in her school system who have 25 years experience make? The union-mandated tenure system, which prevents young, talented teachers from making even vaguely competitive salaries, but…

This - I know teachers with 25 years experience making close to six figures, which seems fairly insane.

What school district? Teacher salary is public knowledge. There are very few states that pay teachers 6 digits.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#654

Post by kaitai » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

exodust wrote: post #636

mikeash wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes me sad that showing off something you made can be seen as "asking for trouble."

It wasn't just "something", it was a case with a timer inside and wires and circuits. His "invention" was not anything useful. The only useful function I can think of for such a device, is actually a hoax bomb for drama class. What good is a clock inside a case? I'm getting down-voted to all hell, but that's what one gets for backing one's argument in a den of trigger-happy bigot-hunters. He showed it to his engineer…

I have spent a lot of time making non-useful things, including every project I've ever made with an Arduino.

And what's with the "practicing Islam" thing? I was in this group where I memorized the Sermon on the Mount in junior high, in addition to going to church and doing choir. We got cookies every week. Seriously, no one thought I was getting radicalized when I "practiced" the religion of a radical Middle Easterner three times a week. Joke's on them: I got so radicalized I refused to join the church because of the hypocrisy I perceived (as a self-righteous mildly aspie junior highschooler).

And we made actual explosives at school in my day.... good times.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#655

Post by lucio » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

pdabbadabba wrote: post #613

nadams wrote: post #121

If anyone is actually surprised by the administrations intelligence - I should remind you of 3 events: - A teacher confiscates Linux CDs claiming that the student was essentially distributing illegal copyrighted software - because no software is free [1] - A system administrator was fired for installing/running seti@home on school computers. There is a lot of controversy about this case - but I read one news article…

President Obama has invited Ahmed to bring his "cool clock" to the White House: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656

LATEST NEWS: Terrorist-sounding-named boy Ahmed Mohamed gets into White House with ticking device! The boy was given safe-passage from a guy named Hussein. Both are being investigated.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#656

Post by portlander12345 » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

rbshadel wrote: post #157

kailuowang wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you overestimate the intelligence of the authority in this particular case. I think this is more a case of collective stupidity than authority turning people to mindless sheep. What worried me is where is the engineering teacher he first showed the clock to? He or she could've clarified everything in 5 seconds.

that's exactly what I came here to post. I find it even more troubling that the teacher was clearly aware of this possible outcome - going so far as to tell the kid to hide it from other teachers. but for all we know maybe he did speak up and was shushed by administration? who knows...pretty frustrating either way.

My bet is that the engineering teacher is the sole adult geek in this environment and is used to those around him acting this way. I feel for him. There's a personality that's overwhelmingly common in schools, that seeks conformity and uses their own ability to be frightened as a weapon against the weirdos. Perhaps someone can describe it better than me.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#657

Post by fukusa » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:57 PM UTC

exodust wrote: post #261

Sounds like he was asking for it. Notice in the video he says "he used a simple cable to lock it so it wouldn't look like a threat". People are forgetting that there's nothing impressive about a "clock in a case". He called it an "invention". Sorry kid, you're 14, not 8. Nothing inventive about sticking a digital clock in a case. His own engineering teacher suggested he not show it to other teachers. So what does he…

You seem to forget that it's a 14 year old kid.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#658

Post by bborud » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:57 PM UTC

slg wrote: post #635

jameshart wrote: post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course the difference here is Woz both fully intended mischief, knew he could get in trouble, but in general had the expectation that he would get away with it in the long term.

Ahmed will "get away with it in the long term" as well. He will probably be even better off after this episode. He is going to have the attention of all sorts of great people including the president. But of course that isn't particularly the problem here. When something like this comes up and catches our attention, there is outrage until that specific situation is fixed. We all pat ourselves on the back for helping t…

Concrete instances are needed to provide examples.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#659

Post by seanalltogether » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:57 PM UTC

EmpressNicole wrote: post #627

I really hope that the teacher gets fired for this stupidity

The press release from the school tells you everything about how they view this situation. They took a bad course of action, and now they're going into overdrive to justify why everything the adults did is ok. They'll probably add even more restrictions on what students can bring to school to make sure they don't look like fools again.

Re: 14-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

#660

Post by mikeash » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 5:58 PM UTC

exodust wrote: post #636

mikeash wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes me sad that showing off something you made can be seen as "asking for trouble."

It wasn't just "something", it was a case with a timer inside and wires and circuits. His "invention" was not anything useful. The only useful function I can think of for such a device, is actually a hoax bomb for drama class. What good is a clock inside a case? I'm getting down-voted to all hell, but that's what one gets for backing one's argument in a den of trigger-happy bigot-hunters. He showed it to his engineer…

How is a timer with wires and circuits "not just something"? Are you implying that the fear of this device was somehow justified?

The kid is 14 years old. So what if his invention isn't useful? He was enthusiastic about it and he probably learned something from it. Maybe some of his classmates could have learned that electronics aren't magical mysterious black boxes.

He took the object of his enthusiasm to English class. Yes, if he had left it at showing it to the engineering teacher this whole thing wouldn't have happened, but that doesn't mean he was wrong to show it to his English class.

What exactly about his behavior do you see as "asking for trouble"? Because I don't see anything that even remotely qualifies.