nice ending to story (Florida teen, science experiment)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

with all the tragedies i've been hearing about recently, it is nice to hear an uplifting ending to a story. few weeks back you may have heard of a Florida teen who was arrested/expelled for doing a science experiment on school grounds. She was an honor student and was mixing some chemicals in a water bottle to see what would happen. water bottle exploded and made a sound, though no one was hurt, no damage to property but the schools touted their "zero tolerance" policy and expelled her and had her arrested for "setting off a weapon" or something ridiculous. there was a petition going around for this.

well, apparently a former NASA employee heard of this and paid for her to go to space camp. And upon hearing that she has a twin sister, raised funds for her to go too. :)

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/23/2055391/florida-honor-student-arrested-for-science-experiment-cleared-of-charges-going-to-space-camp/

[wallawala]

What a nice ending!

[wellyes]

I am glad a good student is not facing a felony conviction. And it is crazy that they had no choice but to try her as an adult....... "tough on crimes" laws are sometimes ridiculous.

But I am a little skeptical her total innocence here. She didn't really just mix random chemicals. She made a "drano bomb" which is an experiment that's been going around YouTube. Aluminum foil plus pipe cleanser in a plastic bottle = dramatic explosion that can cause nasty injuries. See http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/bottlebomb.asp for a demo. Her claim was that someone else suggested she make it, and she didn't know that it was dangerous. But instead of googling or, or even just trying it at home, she made the bomb and set it off on school property! That is crazy bad judgement.

But, it was a mistake, we all do dumb things as kids. I do wish her the best.

[Giantbear]

it is not over yet either. The charges were dropped and she is going to camp, but the issue of her expulsion has not yet been decided. I do not like zero tolerance policies or mandatory punishments, but i also question her 'innocence' as well. Speaking as one who may or may not have blown up a few things in my youth ..... I am guessing she thought it would be cool and never realized the stupidity of her actions. I would love to see her back in school next year with community service.

[TwinFoxes]

I am guessing she thought it would be cool and never realized the stupidity of her actions. I would love to see her back in school next year with community service.

:yeahthat: I don't think the punishment fit the crime. I never heard she mixed random chemicals. I heard she wanted to see what would happen. Which is kind of how science works! She should have used better judgment and done it at home though. I hate zero tolerance rules too. Every week it seems there's some stupid story involving zero tolerance, meanwhile supposedly "no bullying" rules seem to be ignored. :confused:

I'm glad she's going to space camp!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

oh i agree she should have used better judgment..but i guess i disagreed with the whole "let's immediately kick her out and get her arrested" sentiment of the school. it just seems so counterproductive...punishing/aresting teens for things like this does not seem like the best way to encourage better behavior.

and yes, the whole "zero tolerance" thing has gone too far, yet there seem to be more and more tragedies (suicides, etc) as a result of bullying while the school just puts up a deaf ear.

[wellyes]

oh i agree she should have used better judgment..but i guess i disagreed with the whole "let's immediately kick her out and get her arrested" sentiment of the school. it just seems so counterproductive...punishing/aresting teens for things like this does not seem like the best way to encourage better behavior.I think anytime someone bring a weapon to school, it has to be treated seriously. And I think her concoction was dangerous enough to be considered a weapon. She used toilet cleaner, a product with so many warnings on the bottle.... mine says says to call poison control if inhaled, swallowed or gets on your skin. She might not have known what would happen, mixing it with other ingredients, but she must have known there was an element of danger and risk involved. I am not saying expulsion and arrest were the right answers to the problem, but, I don't think those consequences were completely absurd either.


I googled "risks of drano bombs" and found this article, which is about police warning citizens about the risks of these explosives. It came out before the girl's experiment. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cops-warned-drano-bomb-threat-article-1.1061036 I am not saying she knew exactly what would happen, but, I don't think it's a complete coincidence she came up with this explosive during the exact time that it was becoming a thing police were warning people about.