lmao...really? Ok Mr. Hyperbole. I didn't say anything at all about "harassing brown kids". I actually gave explicit examples of how others have caused horrible school tragedies that didn't match "the profile". For me, it's more about what happened.
I said if ANYBODY does something that is unusual and perceived as suspicious and/or dangerous, there should be no harm and no foul in looking into it. But the only way that works and stays on the up and up is if you treat them with respect. That doesn't mean the school and officers did everything flawlessly here, and that certain ones didn't have prejudiced attitudes. Some of the statements in the article seem awfully bigoted. You can do the right thing and still go about it the wrong way. That's all I'm saying.
And sure, you can make a case that bringing homemade electronics to school is appropriate and educational...but not for English class. The article says he showed it to his engineering teacher and the teacher told him not to show it to any other teachers (probably knowing how it would be perceived). But then it was beeping or something during English. Now, I guess that's just an unfortunate turn of events if he unknowingly set an alarm or something...but we all know how horrifyingly obnoxious alarm clocks are. I doubt it was a subtle "tick, tick".
So, it's disrupting class, the teacher has to address it, and then what comes out of the bag is an odd looking device that is clearly homemade and that she has no reason to understand (most English teachers can barely plug in an ethernet cable, let alone recognize a circuit board). Can you not see how this could cause concern without even considering the kid's skin tone?
Schools are a scary place these days, man. And I don't know how anybody could rule anything out as a possibility. Speaking as a parent, I'm sorry, but I'd be overly cautious here. You're better safe than sorry. That doesn't mean you say ignorant shit like "Yep...I figured that's who it was" when you hear about a "bomb threat" and a Muslim kid. And that doesn't mean you run in and shoot him without asking any questions.
But confiscating it, detaining the kid (not even arresting him), and inquiring about it shouldn't be something we're too afraid to do. Just do it the right way so we're not giving people causes all the damn time. Then society has knee jerk reactions the other direction, where we're so worried about offending people that we don't question anything...and that's when something does happen.
For Christ's sake, just handle things with class and decency. If something looks suspicious, fine. It can be innocent and still look suspicious. It doesn't mean you hate all brown people or that all people with Muslim names are terrorists. Some weird shit happened in English class. Check it out without making national
ing news.
But I agree 100% with the last thing you said though. If this kid has a clean record and has always been a great student, then the school should do everything it can to lift him up and improve his future.
