More zero tolerance crap

[John Connor]

BARTOW, Fla. — A Bartow High School senior graduated Tuesday after her junior-year biology project landed her behind bars and nearly derailed her college plans.
Kiera Wilmot had no idea her science project would get her into so much trouble and possibly keep her from earning her diploma. She and her twin sister, Kayla, were set to finish high school together, but Kiera's arrest and two felony charges almost stopped that.
"I brought in my advanced volcano project into my biology class for my teacher to approve," explained Kiera. "My goal was to slow or stop the reaction time of the chemicals. I knew the two chemicals would react, but I had not tried it before and my friend said they would react and encouraged me to just try it in class. So I did when I should not have listened to peer pressure."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...nt-arrested-science-experiment-blast/9947139/

P&N, not OT
-ViRGE

 

[Rakehellion]

Should have been expelled for doing another lame ass volcano project.

 

[DrPizza]

Florida

 

[bradley]

Such a stupid school can never teach students to be smart, much less think for themselves. Making a mountain out of a molehill is a great way to solve a perceived PC problem. lol?

 

[BUTCH1]

Florida

Yea, because there are no dumb teens doing dumb crap anywhere else..

 

[sandorski]

School Officials are supposed to be smarter than the Students. Apparently that is expecting too much.

 

[Harabec]

Wow, way to discourage innovation.
At least she's still going to uni and happy about it.

 

[SandEagle]

without clicking the link I bet Kiera is middle eastern. amirite?

 

[michal1980]

without clicking the link I bet Kiera is middle eastern. amirite?

nope.

 

[smackababy]

So, a student mixes chemicals without knowing what the reaction was and it creates an explosion. She gets punished and people are upset why exactly? "Oh, those silly kids! Accidentally making bombs and shit! Better not punish them for ignorance." And, what if the chemicals she mixed had a reaction that created a poisonous gas or a large explosion? She is an idiot and deserved some kind of punishment.

 

[Brainonska511]

More zero tolerance? I don't think this qualifies as more, as we already discussed this person and issue over a year ago:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2317642

-----
As smackbaby put it, mixing things together without knowing what might happen is pretty stupid. It's not how you would safely perform an experiment. If you were going to mix two things together, you might want to do a little research first to see if there are any big warnings. Second, you would probably want to do it on a small scale first under non-isochoric conditions (don't do it in a fixed volume, sealed container - any pressure build up can result in an explosion). Expulsion might have been extreme, but she definitely should have been reprimanded in some fashion.

 

[mikeymikec]

She is an idiot and deserved some kind of punishment.

I agree, but considering that her intention was positive (apparently, she did it to take part in a science project, not to prank, cause panic or destroy stuff), I think the school's response was over the top.

School is meant to be about learning, and is a much better place to make mistakes than most, IMO. People, especially teenagers, make stupid mistakes. The school's response sends a message that teenagers should never mistake mistakes, which is stupid.

When I was in secondary school, someone in my class caused a bang* by short-circuiting a mains socket. That same person (in cooking class) also put a piece of paper on an electric hob and turned it on. By that school's rationale he should have been expelled twice. What's the point?

* - Was there a bang? I honestly can't remember. It pissed off a few teachers though. We got something out of the lesson as well, what happens when a mains socket short-circuits!

 

[Kadarin]

So, a student mixes chemicals without knowing what the reaction was and it creates an explosion. She gets punished and people are upset why exactly? "Oh, those silly kids! Accidentally making bombs and shit! Better not punish them for ignorance." And, what if the chemicals she mixed had a reaction that created a poisonous gas or a large explosion? She is an idiot and deserved some kind of punishment.

From the article:

She mixed two chemicals in a plastic water bottle and the lid popped off and smoke came out.

Hardly an explosion. However, these things prove again and again that school administrators are THE dumbest people on the planet.

 

[smackababy]

From the article:



Hardly an explosion. However, these things prove again and again that school administrators are THE dumbest people on the planet.

She mixed two chemicals, which she had no idea of the reaction, and it caused a scene. She was an idiot, plain and simple. It is far better it was just a cap bursting off a bottle (which takes some pressure, btw) and not a real explosion or a poisonous gas. We shouldn't slap stupidity and wanton chemical mixing on the wrist like it is just some "oops! Those darn kids!".

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Maybe she was arrested for trying to pass off chemistry experiment as an advanced biology project.

 

[DrPizza]

I'm going to call bullshit on the no idea what would happen. She actually got lucky with what the outcome was. You don't just coincidentally mix the exact same two things together in a 2 liter bottle that's widely known what happens. Each year, I informally poll my students in physics as to whether they know what chemicals to use, and a significant percentage of students know. In many jurisdictions, they're considered as bombs, though I don't like lumping them in the same category as pipe bombs which contains shrapnel by design.

Believing she had no clue what drano and aluminum foil do would be like seeing a kid mix diet coke and mentors together, and claim no prior knowledge about that particular mixture.

 

[Victorian Gray]

I'm going to call bullshit on the no idea what would happen. She actually got lucky with what the outcome was. You don't just coincidentally mix the exact same two things together in a 2 liter bottle that's widely known what happens. Each year, I informally poll my students in physics as to whether they know what chemicals to use, and a significant percentage of students know. In many jurisdictions, they're considered as bombs, though I don't like lumping them in the same category as pipe bombs which contains shrapnel by design.

Believing she had no clue what drano and aluminum foil do would be like seeing a kid mix diet coke and mentors together, and claim no prior knowledge about that particular mixture.

This?

"The incident happened about 7 a.m. on the grounds of Bartow High School, just before classes began. Based on information from a friend, Wilmot conducted what she called "a science fair experiment," which involved mixing toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a small plastic water bottle, according to police.

The chemical reaction caused a firecracker-like "pop" and some smoke, which the principal heard and saw. It caused no damage or injury to Wilmot, who said that she "thought it would just cause some smoke" and was not trying to hurt anyone or disrupt school, the police report said.""

was deserving of this?

Expulsion from school plus "After school officials determined her science teacher did not know about her experiment, the police were called and they charged her with possession and discharge of a weapon on school grounds and with discharging a destructive device."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...nt-arrested-science-experiment-blast/2130381/

 

[werepossum]

Maybe she was arrested for trying to pass off chemistry experiment as an advanced biology project.

I would not disagree that if one's idea of a junior biology experiment is a chemical volcano, another year of high school may well be warranted. However, let's not forget that this is being brought to us by the College of Journalism, which regularly makes the School of Education's majors seem like the Math and Science geeks. Could be as simple as the reporter not knowing the difference.

 

[waggy]

I'm going to call bullshit on the no idea what would happen. She actually got lucky with what the outcome was. You don't just coincidentally mix the exact same two things together in a 2 liter bottle that's widely known what happens. Each year, I informally poll my students in physics as to whether they know what chemicals to use, and a significant percentage of students know. In many jurisdictions, they're considered as bombs, though I don't like lumping them in the same category as pipe bombs which contains shrapnel by design.

Believing she had no clue what drano and aluminum foil do would be like seeing a kid mix diet coke and mentors together, and claim no prior knowledge about that particular mixture.

i agree. i don't buy the "she didn't know" bullshit.

 

[werepossum]

I'm going to call bullshit on the no idea what would happen. She actually got lucky with what the outcome was. You don't just coincidentally mix the exact same two things together in a 2 liter bottle that's widely known what happens. Each year, I informally poll my students in physics as to whether they know what chemicals to use, and a significant percentage of students know. In many jurisdictions, they're considered as bombs, though I don't like lumping them in the same category as pipe bombs which contains shrapnel by design.

Believing she had no clue what drano and aluminum foil do would be like seeing a kid mix diet coke and mentors together, and claim no prior knowledge about that particular mixture.

I agree that she likely had a very good idea what would happen, but sweet Lord it's a freakin' pop bottle blowing the cap off and emitting a little smoke. Given that combination it's always going to be a freakin' pop bottle blowing the cap off and emitting a little smoke. How about a little common sense before we go charging some stupid kid with "possession and discharge of a weapon on school grounds and with discharging a destructive device"?

Zero tolerance inevitably breeds zero intelligence and judgement, in teachers as well as in students.

 

[Kadarin]

She mixed two chemicals, which she had no idea of the reaction, and it caused a scene. She was an idiot, plain and simple. It is far better it was just a cap bursting off a bottle (which takes some pressure, btw) and not a real explosion or a poisonous gas. We shouldn't slap stupidity and wanton chemical mixing on the wrist like it is just some "oops! Those darn kids!".

So you're saying that an arrest and two felony charges was totally appropriate? If so, then you're part of the problem.

 

[DrPizza]

I agree that she likely had a very good idea what would happen, but sweet Lord it's a freakin' pop bottle blowing the cap off and emitting a little smoke. Given that combination it's always going to be a freakin' pop bottle blowing the cap off and emitting a little smoke. How about a little common sense before we go charging some stupid kid with "possession and discharge of a weapon on school grounds and with discharging a destructive device"?

Zero tolerance inevitably breeds zero intelligence and judgement, in teachers as well as in students.

That's pretty much the opinion I had when this story was new. She had to know what she was doing, and deserved a suspension, but that's about it.

 

[Brainonska511]

So you're saying that an arrest and two felony charges was totally appropriate? If so, then you're part of the problem.

There is a middle ground between expulsion and felony charges and no punishment what-so-ever.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Cool with suspension for doing something stupid, not cool with the felony charges and thousands in court costs...because that's excessive.

 

[WelshBloke]

She mixed two chemicals in a plastic water bottle and the lid popped off and smoke came out. No one was hurt, but school administrators had her arrested.

*Shakes head and walks off muttering*