14-year-old Texas boy arrested for bringing homemade clock

[klaus54]

Yeah, this looks like the kid went to a Radio Shack and said, "lemme look at all the old stuff you haven't been able to sell over the past 40 years, cause I want to build a big kludgy impractical clock that looks like crap to impress my teacher".

Why would the thing have a 9 volt battery AND a transformer that needs plugged in? What practical application does building this thing have to contemporary electronics?

Simple. It gets one a visit to the White House, providing one is a Muslim.

Duh!

[klaus54]

This shocks you?

A 9-volt battery can in fact give one a good shock.

[Teallaura]

"It's a clock" is a sufficient answer, given what the officers were looking at.

No, it isn't. I'm not convinced at this point that the cops should have been called (still catching up) BUT if, as reported, the police asked other questions (what it was for, why brought) and he failed to answer, then he's in the wrong. He, like all the rest of us, has a duty to comply with officers in their due performance of duty - unless refusing under Fifth Amendment grounds. But invoking the Fifth when there is no apparent reason to do so (contrariness may be a reason but not a good one here) can be grounds for suspicion. Failure to answer routine questions appropriately could well be grounds for suspicion.

I'm still dubious that this should have escalated to this point but I confess, I'm beginning to wonder if it had a little help from the kid himself.

[Teallaura]

Yeah, this looks like the kid went to a Radio Shack and said, "lemme look at all the old stuff you haven't been able to sell over the past 40 years, cause I want to build a big kludgy impractical clock that looks like crap to impress my teacher".

Why would the thing have a 9 volt battery AND a transformer that needs plugged in? What practical application does building this thing have to contemporary electronics?

To be fair, it could have been 'hey look what I cobbled together from the junk my Dad had left over.'

[Cow Poke]

Are we seriously ragging on a 14 year-old kid's electrical engineering project now?

Sam, when was the last time you were at a High School Science Fair?

[klaus54]

Oh, wow, it's a backpack with a circuit board! And, oh wow, it looks like a clock!

Lets call the cops.

All I can say is, whew!

Good thing it wasn't a plastic butter knife.

That would have drawn a two-week suspension.

But the boy genius' piece of junk deems a visit to the Prez.

[Cow Poke]

A 9-volt battery can in fact give one a good shock.

The tip of the human tongue is a built in 9 volt battery tester!

[Cow Poke]

All I can say is, whew!

Good thing it wasn't a plastic butter knife.

That would have drawn a two-week suspension.

But the boy genius' piece of junk deems a visit to the Prez.

Yeah, I mentioned that earlier - or a PICTURE of a gun, or a drawing of a kid's own father as a deployed soldier....

[Teallaura]

So basically, you're just holding out hope that maybe some aspect of the story has been left out, that makes your position seem justified? There's nothing to anyone's knowledge that suggests that some facts have been left out - all the evidence is present.

*emphasis mine

These are the sort of words that most often precede a very large serving of crow. Take my advice - add salt. Crow is a bit more edible with enough salt - and gravy, lots and lots of gravy...

Just sayin'..

[Teallaura]

The tip of the human male tongue is a built in 9 volt battery tester!

Fixed it for ya!

[Cow Poke]

Fixed it for ya!

Thanks, coach!

[klaus54]

The tip of the human tongue is a built in 9 volt battery tester!

Yes, Sir!

It always freaks out some students when I battery test in class.

[Teallaura]

Okay, I have a (quickly falling apart) life and haven't time to read everything - could someone tell me if it was ever confirmed that the kid showed it to the engineering teacher and if so, why the heck he/she wasn't consulted?

[klaus54]

Yeah, I mentioned that earlier - or a PICTURE of a gun, or a drawing of a kid's own father as a deployed soldier....

Would a drawing of the kid's father be acceptable if pops left his family to become an ISIL member?

[rogue06]

Okay, I have a (quickly falling apart) life

Still in my ers