I prefer safety to political correctness any day.
Last Monday, Ahmed Mohamed brought a homemade science experiment to school. Though the invention was a clock, a teacher falsely identified the contraption as a bomb, landing Mohamed in an absurd amount of trouble. People believe his race caused the harsh treatment, but there is no evidence supporting this claim. The school’s security should be rewarded, not reprimanded.
Just because Mohamed is Muslim doesn’t mean he was stereotyped as a terrorist. If a white child brought a ticking briefcase to school, I’m sure there would be suspicious teachers and negative repercussions.
My teachers, like many others, were naive to what a bomb looks like. Teachers have a degree in education — not nuclear physics. Mohamed’s project looks nothing like my alarm clock, so I can understand how a teacher would be skeptical.
The disappointing part of the story is the police’s treatment toward Mohamed. When asked if he could phone his family, he was denied this privilege, as he was “in the middle of an interrogation.”
When Mohamed’s father reached the police station, he witnessed five police officers surrounding his handcuffed son. Regardless of the charge, I believe this reaction was overkill for someone so young.
Mohamed is a freshman in high school who looks about 120 pounds soaking wet. The police were clearly using intimidation tactics on a 14-year-old to force a confession.
After all the drama, Mohamed was suspended until Sept. 17 for creating a “hoax-bomb.” This also was unnecessary because Mohamed did not cause any reason for alarm over his clock.
The story of Mohamed should not be about a young Muslim teen arrested due to false stereotypes, but rather the proactiveness of the Irving high school police.
We live in a time where the threat of terrorism is very real and can come from a variety of ethnicities. The school’s response should not be scolded because they took the necessary precautions to a bomb threat.
Numerous terrorist threats are directed at the United States every day. There are more instances of terrorism through homegrown extremists than through Jihad since 9/11, according to The New York Times. In fact, twice as many people have died since 9/11 from anti-government fanatics, white supremacists and other non-Muslim extremist groups than Muslim extremists.
I would rather schools overreact in their fight against terrorism than do nothing to remain politically correct.
People should be held to the same standards, regardless of ethnicity. Whether Mohamed was forced to jump through so many hoops due to his race is unknown, as his case is uncommon. If there was a white child who brought an identical clock to his local high school in Texas and was praised, then I may be persuaded. However, such a case does not exist.
The media blew this situation out of proportion because everyone assumed this was racism. Public figures like Hillary Clinton are not helping. Clinton tweeted, “Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe — they hold us back. Mohamed, stay curious and keep building.”
Assumptions and fear do keep us safe. Skepticism keeps us on our toes and on the lookout for danger. Clinton is sympathizing with Mohamed to appear personal and caring — an attempt to help her poll numbers for her campaign.
It’s fantastic this incident sparked the importance of creativity amongst today’s youth, but overprotection shouldn’t be scolded. The true crime was the treatment after the clock’s identity was established. If anyone should be to blame, it should be the police officers.
Scolding safety at the price of political correctness is not the attitude Americans need. This sets a poor example for public safety institutions. If we overlooked individuals as threats of terrorism, the U.S. would be more more susceptible to attack.
Kain Hingle is a 19-year-old psychology sophomore from Mandeville, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @kain_hingle.