I don't get why you guys keep repeating ad nauseum that the kid 'isn't a genius'. The debate here isn't even really centered on whether he accomplished a great feat of engineering.
The fact of the matter is that this wouldn't have happened if a white student brought a clock into school.
Behold, an article titled: "7 Kids Not Named Mohamed Who Brought Homemade Clocks to School And Didn't Get Arrested"
http://gawker.com/7-kids-not-named-mohamed-who-brought-homemade-clocks-to-1730999866
Funny enough, several of these happened in the months following Columbine, so your excuse about 'paranoia over school shootings' is just that much more ridiculous. (directed at SetGaming, not you Nonnel)
Do you still believe he should've gotten awarded, however? Do you believe he should've gotten this much attention? I'm white, and I can easily make a clock myself and stuff it in a black project box - I'm quite certain that I would get arrested, as well, at my school. What I'm saying is that for a kid so smart, he should've known
not to bring a clock to school during a racially insensitive point in time. The point we're trying to make, with him not being a genius, however, is that he has no merit to "show off his accomplishments" to any teacher, as he showed
all of his teachers. If he actually made the clock, and he's taking engineering classes, he has a legitimate reason for showing his clock to teachers, whether as a project or a definite accomplishment.
We don't care how smart he is, we care about the fact, that with the clock being made not of his hand, and in a suspicious looking box, it's likely he was garnering for attention. I don't care about his race, I barely care about the time he did it himself.
What I'm saying is that the kid had many chances to think it through and stop himself, but he kept going and got arrested, likely as how he planned. Should I go to school tomorrow with something that ticks, is in a black box with portruding segment displays, and when I pull it out, I whisper "Allahu Akbar" and show it to each one of my teachers, then when I get arrested, I should say "oh no, it's just a clock"? I'm white, most honor students are white, isn't that racial descrimination?
