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12-year-old Sikh boy arrested in US after classmate accuses him of carrying a bomb

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Al-ibn Kermit

Junior Member
I guess context is important. We don't really know the discussion that took place. It could have been a simple retort to the bully's attacks.

I picture something like this...

Bully: Hey terrorist! Hey Muslim!

Boy: Leave me alone!

Bully: What are you going to do about it? Shoot me? Blow me up?

Boy: Yeah, I have a bomb in my backpack with your name written all over it. (sarcasm)

Obviously the above is just pointless conjecture but I can see how something might be said without him really thinking things through or the consequences/reaction it might garner.

Which anyone could figure out was a joke threat. The other kid probably thought he could get the Sikh kid assigned detention or something for making a fake "bomb threat".

Calling police in and arresting somebody because of this even when there is obviously no bomb in the backpack just shows something is wrong with everyone else involved. It's called racism, I think.
 

Clockwork

Member
Which anyone could figure out was a joke threat. The other kid probably thought he could get the Sikh kid assigned detention or something for making a fake "bomb threat".

Calling police in and arresting somebody because of this even when there is obviously no bomb in the backpack just shows something is wrong with everyone else involved. It's called racism, I think.

I'm not disagreeing with you.
 
I want to say the bully who reported him should be jailed / juvied, but it kinda sucks if the kid joked about having a bomb. All around a shitty situation, hope the parents get together and educate each other and the kids about each others religions and learn some tolerance.

It definitely sucks being different especially at that age, feel bad for the kid.

Didn't read the article but if he really got stuck in juvie for 3 days that is also just horrible. I can't even fathom how that could happen.

My kids are long out of school now but I thought more schools were into anti-bullying and stuff like that, guess islamophobia is creeping back in. Ironic in this situation, since Islamic terrorists would consider Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, etc the worst enemy since they are viewed as non Abrahamic pagans. One of the reasons why they persecute the Yazidi so harshly in Iraq - the Yazidi originally are from India, afaik.
 

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
This is just sad and stupid. I've never met a Sikh who wasn't the coolest dude ever.

I will attest to that.
It looks like its only going to get worse in near term, though.

Edit: Oh he joked about bomb in his bag? Well a fucked up situation all around, then. Kid screwed up and he is just a kid, but I dont know if I can blame the police either in such a case. I hope everything turns out fine for the kid.
 

watershed

Banned
Not when he actually said he had a bomb in his backpack. The op was updated.

Yes, but he was clearly wrong and under what circumstances did he say this? And there is the matter of his detention, when authorities notified his family, etc.

I work in schools, if a student made a "threat" like this we would say that's not funny, check his backpack, explain why statements like that are not appropriate, and move on with our school day.
 
How many kids of color have brought bombs to school?

How many white kids have brought guns to school and murdered a bunch of other kids and adults?

Where is this paranoia coming from?
 

Stahsky

A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
i'm not really seeing how the principal is at fault here. kid jokes about having a bomb, principal is not looking to take risks with so many children there, calls cops.


the cops detaining him without contacting the parents for 3 days is what's really fucked up here.
 
remember when dumb things you said as a kid didn't involve jail?

I remember saying "Im going to kill you!" out loud in the middle of the band hall, and the only thing that happened was the conductor talked to me about it being wrong to say.
 

rjinaz

Member
do they not call the parents when kids are sent to juvenile detention? wtf?

Probably waiting for the FBI to finish their investigation on the parents first. I'm sure once this kid got arrested, that was step 2. Terrorist parents have no rights!
 
3 days juvenile detention with the parents not being notified? Maaaaaaaaan, people really need to chill the fuck out and handle this shit like rational human beings. It's embarrassing.
 

antonz

Member
School are no tolerance zones. What this kid did was above the usual stuff most kids get in trouble for.

Bomb threats even as a joke aren't going to be tolerated.I mean Los Angeles just the other day sent home almost 700,000 students over a hoax bomb threat.
Shit is taken deadly serious.

Now as to how the kid got lost in the system for 3 days etc. is absolutely worth being outraged and demanding answers over
 

sajj316

Member
So all we know is that a stupid accused this boy of making threats. I didn't read anything about him admitting to these threats or am I missing something?
 

Vire

Member
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.
 

watershed

Banned
School are no tolerance zones. What this kid did was above the usual stuff most kids get in trouble for.

Bomb threats even as a joke aren't going to be tolerated.I mean Los Angeles just the other day sent home almost 700,000 students over a hoax bomb threat.
Shit is taken deadly serious.

Now as to how the kid got lost in the system for 3 days etc. is absolutely worth being outraged and demanding answers over

Zero Tolerance is a bs policy that has dramatically altered how schools handle discipline for the worse and disproportionately affects students of color. Smart districts have moved away from the Zero Tolerance approach and have seen positive results.

http://www.vera.org/sites/default/f...ds/zero-tolerance-in-schools-policy-brief.pdf

Check it out. Schools with Zero Tolerance policies harm their students.

On top of that, under what circumstance did this student "admit" to having a bomb? What was the role of the other student to made the accusation in the first place? How was he disciplined by the same administrators who felt the need to contact police in this case? There are a lot of questions, not just about police intervention but about the role of the school in this case.
 
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.

He was 12, jailed for three days and his parents weren't informed either?

Damn that's fucked up. Why didn't your mum speak out against such treatment of a 12 year old?
 
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.

He got 3 days in juvenile detention without notifying his parents too?

Whoa
 

watershed

Banned
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.

Sorry to DP but this other kid was also arrested and detained for 3 days without police notifying his parents and you think that too is ok?
 
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.

He was held for 3 days in a juvenile facility, with no notification to his parents? You think this is perfectly acceptable?
 

Vire

Member
He got 3 days in juvenile detention without notifying his parents too?

Whoa

Sorry to DP but this other kid was also arrested and detained for 3 days without police notifying his parents and you think that too is ok?

He was held for 3 days in a juvenile facility, with no notification to his parents? You think this is perfectly acceptable?

Two days of juvie, parents were notified. The fact that his parents weren't notified in this situation is bewildering, besides that - it's whatever.
 
So police now can arrest a minor and basically throw him in jail without letting the parents know when they took him in custody ... Wow that is awesome
 

PopeReal

Member
My mom is a school teacher and they had a kid joke about a bomb and he got a similar punishment.

Note: he wasn't brown

This isn't abnormal, please return to your regularly scheduled outrage article of the day.

Omg, lame people so outraged over juveniles being taken and detained without telling their parents. Outrage culture, am I right?

You are the frontrunner for dumb post of the day. Congrats!
 

Vire

Member
Omg, lame people so outraged over juveniles being taken and detained without telling their parents. Outrage culture, am I right?

You are the frontrunner for dumb post of the day. Congrats!

Don't joke about having a bomb in your backpack. I'd have a lot more sympathy otherwise.
 

SwolBro

Banned
Could you say this would have happened if he was white? Everyone would have just ignored it.

It's a fucking 12 year old. Doesn't take rocket science to tell whether or not they are being serious. All it takes is pulling them aside for a moment and having a small talk, not arresting them.

No, pretty sure any kid that jokes about having a bob or gun in school now is pretty fucked. It's the world we live in. you can't joke around anymore with this type of stuff
 
No, pretty sure any kid that jokes about having a bob or gun in school now is pretty fucked. It's the world we live in. you can't joke around anymore with this type of stuff

I'm trying to figure out how it being a joke, and him not actually having a bomb in his backpack, is somehow justification enough for 3 days in a juvenile facility. It's highly fucking irrational if you ask me.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Zero Tolerance is a bs policy that has dramatically altered how schools handle discipline for the worse and disproportionately affects students of color. Smart districts have moved away from the Zero Tolerance approach and have seen positive results.

http://www.vera.org/sites/default/f...ds/zero-tolerance-in-schools-policy-brief.pdf

Check it out. Schools with Zero Tolerance policies harm their students.

On top of that, under what circumstance did this student "admit" to having a bomb? What was the role of the other student to made the accusation in the first place? How was he disciplined by the same administrators who felt the need to contact police in this case? There are a lot of questions, not just about police intervention but about the role of the school in this case.

Most definitely, but believing a aggrieved party's Facebook post credulously isn't a great way to start things out.

I do hope that schools as a whole stop flipping out over this stuff and take steps to de-escalate, but I'm sure most administrators are terrified of letting a kid saying that stuff off with a slap on the wrist or a suspension and then having that kind actually follow through on his threats.
 

Knoxcore

Member
I really don't see the problem here. If Sarai joked about a bomb and another student turned him in then what's the problem? If anything the kid who turned him in was being cautious. The juvie part is ridiculous, but beyond that, no story here.
 

watershed

Banned
Most definitely, but believing a aggrieved party's Facebook post credulously isn't a great way to start things out.

I do hope that schools as a whole stop flipping out over this stuff and take steps to de-escalate, but I'm sure most administrators are terrified of letting a kid saying that stuff off with a slap on the wrist or a suspension and then having that kind actually follow through on his threats.

Absolutely we need more information and absolutely schools need to evaluate any and all threats they are made aware of. But that evaluation aspect is what Zero Tolerance lacks. It's in the very definition of the policy that all instances of threats or harm are treated based on an established scale without consideration for individual circumstance. That's kind of essential to Zero Tolerance and it's wrong. It also seems like some form of that lack of evaluation happened here. Zero Tolerance is also a policy that enables further discrimination, which also seems like something that happened here.
 

KevinCow

Banned
Similar thing happened to me in school. Some kids went to the principal and said I had a bomb. Fortunately I'm white, and this was pre-9/11 anyway, so instead of getting arrested, they just had the security guard pull me out of class and search my locker. But it was still really embarrassing.
 
I don't blame the principal. Not sure why all the hate. I'd rather the cops be called and nothing happens than not been called and something did.

The cops shouldn't have detained him without informing his parents. Hell, they shouldn't have detained him at all. Kid should gotten detention for a few weeks for joking about shit like that. Even 15 years ago when I was in middle school we knew better than to joke around like that, today's climate is even worse.
 
I remember in Elementary school there were a few times where the school was evacuated because of a bomb threat. This was probably 10 years ago or so. Live in a very rural area, that's pretty much everyone is either white and a few hispanic.

They certainly take these types of things very seriously.

Particularly since the kid admitted making jokes about it. If they don't know what the situation is, it's hard to act appropriately. What if the boy had an older sibling that put a bomb in their backpack.

If you think just because someone is white, that yelling bomb at an airport wouldn't get you in trouble, you're wrong.

It would be one thing if none of this was ever said, and a kid was basically thrown in jail because of skin color. That would be beyond awful and inexcusable.

One thing that should have been dealt with better though is the fact that the parents were apparently never notified.
 
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