And please note that this was not any kind of project that exposed anyone to any actual hazard, just that an ignorant fuck thought it looked hazardous:
Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said the student had been making the device in his home garage. A vice principal saw the student showing it to other students at school about 11:40 a.m. Friday and was concerned that it might be harmful, and San Diego police were notified.
The school, which has about 440 students in grades 6 to 8 and emphasizes technology skills, was initially put on lockdown while authorities responded.
Luque said the project was made of an empty half-liter Gatorade bottle with some wires and other electrical components attached. There was no substance inside.
From signonsandiego.com [1] (h/t ssdd in this sciencemadness thread [2]); my bold. And what was it really? The fire department determined that the kid was actually trying to make a primitive motion detector. Now I can understand the vice principal having gotten a bit freaked out, but take note of what happened afterwards:
"There will be no (criminal) charges whatsoever," Luque said.
Police and fire officials also will not seek to recover costs associated with responding to the incident, the spokesman said.
Now what in the fuck is this? He needs counselling because he happened to make something which the vice principal didn't recognize, and mistakenly thought it was dangerous? Yeah, I suppose if you're smarter than an authority figure, something has to be done about that. And I'd like to see the "policy" that the kid supposedly violated; I wouldn't be surprise if it's some kind of blanket prohibition of "threats", in which case this is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
And as an aside, the comments made by hissingnoise in the sciencemadness thread are, er, unfortunate.
Links:
[1] http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/15/students-evacuated-school-chollas-view/
[2] http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=13268
[3] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104647
[4] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104649
[5] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104650
[6] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104651
[7] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104652
[8] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104659
[9] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104660
[10] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/youth-issues/science-project-prompts-san-diego-school-evacuation-1#comment-1104671
[11] http://rabble.ca/user
[12] http://rabble.ca/user/register
The bigger picture: A US school promoting "technology", evacuated and went into lockdown over a technological project, and then recommends counselling for the young fellow who was innovating in his spare time (i.e. learning) at home. Welcome to the new Dark Ages. Embrace your ignorance.
I guess there won't be no rocket scientists coming from San Diego.
FM: good point about the school being a "tech" school. That occurred to me too, and I meant to include it (honest!) but forgot to in my haste to post.
You really have to wonder what sort of society we live in when a school VP's first response is to call in a SWAT team rather than approach an 11 year-old. Is there a toll free number? 1-877-RAT-A-KID? Are we officially fucked up yet?
I can almost sympathize with the initial reaction (the vice principal might conceivably have thought there was a possibility that the kid was on a suicide mission). But upon finding out that he/she was dead wrong about this, the only appropriate thing to do would be to drop the issue. And I guess for an authority figure to do this would be unacceptable, as it would require admitting in front of students that s/he was wrong about something (hey, why'd rabble get rid of the eyeroll smiley anyway?)
Are you serious? An 11 year-old kid on a suicide mission at school? Is this something that happens every day? Was the VP acting because he couldn't live with himself if it happened AGAIN!? We are talking about kids at a school that teaches, allegedly, technology. Where else would one expect to see a kid with a project that involves wire? Are US science fairs now limited to the many, many Mr. Potato Head possibilities (and/or dioramas featuring Jebus and dinosaurs)?
Please note that I did say "almost". The thing is, ever since Columbine school officials, especially in the US, have been freaking out about that very thing happening. There's an atmosphere of moral panic around the whole thing, so it's understandable (though not good) that an official got carried away.
Note too that this project was not for a school-sponsored event; it's described as a "personal" project that the kid built at home and brought to school to show his friends. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does explain why the vice principal wasn't expecting to see something like that.
I absolutely sympathize with the initial knee-jerk reaction.
I agree completely.