Public Attention: Truly Justified or Not?
2015-10-12 (월)
▶ Daniel Woo / Whitney High School 11th Grade
Just two weeks ago, Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for supposedly bringing a bomb to school. However, it was discovered that it was a clock and not a bomb. There was a huge uproar due to this incident because many claimed that he was racially profiled and that he should have been awarded for his ability to make a clock from scratch. Ahmed was supported by many, including Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Google. They praised his creativity and criticized the way the school responded to the situation. However, should Ahmed receive all this public recognition for his work?Whether it was racial profiling or the teachers’ actual belief that he brought a bomb to school, there is a big issue about the integrity of the clock. What most people do not know is that Ahmed did not build the clock that he claimed to have made from scratch. Countless people have examined Ahmed’s “invention” and came to the conclusion that it was not built or assembled. All he did was merely utilize an alarm clock, take off the plastic covering, and then place it in a box. The evidence came from the fact that all the materials used for the clock were used for manufactured clocks. So why did Ahmed claim to have made the clock, and does Ahmed deserve to be awarded with public acclaim for something he did not make?Another question that no one seemed to have asked is why did Ahmed program his clock to go off during class? Ahmed’s clock was found because it went off in the middle of class when the teacher already told him to put it away. Alarm clocks are programmed to go off at a certain time; they do not go off on their own, so why did Ahmed set his alarm clock for that time? This question leads to the suspicion of Ahmed’s reason to bring the clock to school.
Finally, Ahmed received huge public support but why him? A few years back, a seven-year-old student with ADHD was suspended and then expelled for turning a Pop-Tart into a gun-looking shape and then pretending to shoot people. Many little children do not understand the concept of shooting people and its consequence, which is why so many children do the same, but this child was kicked out of school for it. So why does Ahmed, someone who might or might not have been unfairly judged, receive public support but not the seven-year-old kid who was clearly mistreated? Incidents such as these that rally much public attention need to be speculated more carefully and justly. Although every situation has its differing perspectives, it is necessary for all to consider more than one side.