As a black guy raised by his mother and who has a sister who works in tech this whole ordeal really bugged me. I like to hear stories of girls getting involved in science and technology and Kiera's story was the exact opposite. Like another commenter here said, I dont know if she will be the next brilliant scientist. However, I do know that she is a curious kid and her curiosity should be encouraged and developed even if she makes some minor mistakes along the way.
Hopefully more people in a position to do something will reach out to more girls to get them involved in science. They shouldn't have to be wronged horribly by the adults in the community to deserve some attention.
Like Kiera Wilmot, like Zach Sobiech [1], like Aaron Swartz, we collectively tend to "wait until it's too late" before recognizing and appreciating special things about people around us.
I think we can do better to recognize, encourage, and support those around us who go beyond what they're told to do or what may seem prudent. I'll be doing my best to combat that urge to scoff at things at first glance -- that bad habit that gets even the best of us at times.
That's nice of Space Camp to reach out to her like that. I don't know if Kiera Wilmot is going to be the next brilliant scientist or not but I do know she seemed like a bright, interested student who was unfairly targeted by our schools' protofascist zero tolerance policies. I could imagine it would put a distaste for involvement in science in your mouth if you were persecuted for what's an obvious nothing story, so I hope Space Camp's nice gesture does something to counteract that.
Also Space Camp is sweet, I spent a week there as a kid. I didn't go through the official program but I saw and experienced a lot of it and it's one of the most unique and fun youth programs in the world.
I did Space Camp a couple years after the movie came out. I'm still mad about getting stuck with being the Public Relations Officer in Ground Control on the shuttle mission at the end.
from Michigan. It made for a very interesting couple of days sleeping in a courthouse in the northern part of Tennessee and then a Methodist church in the southern part of Tennessee.
I'm glad the charges were dropped. No one was hurt and that fact needs to be considered before ruining a kid's life.
But in all likelihood she built a Drano bomb, probably after watching one of the millions of YouTube videos on the subject, and blew it up on school property. She's not a martyr for science, nor a role model for girls in STEM, and frankly it is a little offensive that's the line people are sticking with.
> No one was hurt and that fact needs to be considered before ruining a kid's life.
Victimless crimes are 86% of the federal prison population. There is a bigger problem of what types of crimes the state is spending it's time enforcing.
I made Drano bombs and set them off on school property when I was a kid, and I turned out pretty good. I mostly pay my taxes and everything. It's not my understanding that that's what happened here, but if it is, it's still a tragedy that this notion of charging a child with a felony for tinkering with interesting chemical reactions got as far as it did.
Children are expected to behave irresponsibly. Adults should be expected to behave responsibly. It is horribly irresponsible to attempt to ruin a child's life over a mistake that lots of kids have made and will make in the future. This is a stern talking to situation, not a "call the feds, it's time to put this kid in jail" situation, and every adult that signed off on the idea of taking this to a criminal level should be really ashamed of themselves.
I think it's the potential for harm that makes her punishment somewhat justified. Not unlike charging someone for driving drunk, when they haven't actually run anyone over yet.
I knew a guy in high school that got expelled in the middle of his senior year, because cops turned up an airsoft gun in the trunk of his car after they brought drug dogs through our school parking lot (this was done routinely, inside the school and also in the parking lot, probably still is). That to me is a much worse example of how far these "zero-tolerance" polices get taken.
The issues is that, for every Kiera Wilmot, there are a dozen kids, many of them with substantial potential, who adhere to the rules and elect not to detonate draino bombs in the school bathroom, but no one makes an effort to aid them.
This story is just indicative of the perverse nature of publicity: those that break the rules are the ones who reap the rewards and publicity.
If only we really were... Blowing up stuff is one of the best introductions to science a kid can get!
If a kid today were to do now what I did as a kid, they'd have a criminal record a mile long, destined to be nothing more than a drain on society since they'd be permanently branded and unemployable in most places. That's not a good way to build up your future economy and industry, not to mention international competitiveness!
Punishing a child by permanently destroying their hopes and dreams shows some badly misplaced priorities.
[+] [-] dopamean|13 years ago|reply
Hopefully more people in a position to do something will reach out to more girls to get them involved in science. They shouldn't have to be wronged horribly by the adults in the community to deserve some attention.
[+] [-] hkmurakami|13 years ago|reply
I think we can do better to recognize, encourage, and support those around us who go beyond what they're told to do or what may seem prudent. I'll be doing my best to combat that urge to scoff at things at first glance -- that bad habit that gets even the best of us at times.
[1] This has been making the rounds on SNS sites but in case you haven't seen it: http://www.upworthy.com/this-kid-just-died-what-he-left-behi...
[+] [-] homosaur|13 years ago|reply
Also Space Camp is sweet, I spent a week there as a kid. I didn't go through the official program but I saw and experienced a lot of it and it's one of the most unique and fun youth programs in the world.
[+] [-] smky80|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yoshamano|13 years ago|reply
Fun fact, we ended up driving through this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century#Bliz...
from Michigan. It made for a very interesting couple of days sleeping in a courthouse in the northern part of Tennessee and then a Methodist church in the southern part of Tennessee.
[+] [-] nsxwolf|13 years ago|reply
But in all likelihood she built a Drano bomb, probably after watching one of the millions of YouTube videos on the subject, and blew it up on school property. She's not a martyr for science, nor a role model for girls in STEM, and frankly it is a little offensive that's the line people are sticking with.
[+] [-] dmix|13 years ago|reply
Victimless crimes are 86% of the federal prison population. There is a bigger problem of what types of crimes the state is spending it's time enforcing.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/8558/why-we-need-prison-re...
[+] [-] SwellJoe|13 years ago|reply
Children are expected to behave irresponsibly. Adults should be expected to behave responsibly. It is horribly irresponsible to attempt to ruin a child's life over a mistake that lots of kids have made and will make in the future. This is a stern talking to situation, not a "call the feds, it's time to put this kid in jail" situation, and every adult that signed off on the idea of taking this to a criminal level should be really ashamed of themselves.
[+] [-] maaku|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ledge|13 years ago|reply
I knew a guy in high school that got expelled in the middle of his senior year, because cops turned up an airsoft gun in the trunk of his car after they brought drug dogs through our school parking lot (this was done routinely, inside the school and also in the parking lot, probably still is). That to me is a much worse example of how far these "zero-tolerance" polices get taken.
[+] [-] ck2|13 years ago|reply
Now I am not so sure. If she purposely made a drano bomb (google it) it's not exactly a "science experiment".
Still, she had good grades supposedly and had never been in trouble before, so expulsion was extreme until proven otherwise I guess.
So maybe she can make something good happen from this offer.
[+] [-] logical42|13 years ago|reply
I personally think its a rather easy topic to be scientifically curious about.
[+] [-] ruswick|13 years ago|reply
This story is just indicative of the perverse nature of publicity: those that break the rules are the ones who reap the rewards and publicity.
[+] [-] aptwebapps|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fmstephe|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ajaymehta|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] peteretep|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kstenerud|13 years ago|reply
If a kid today were to do now what I did as a kid, they'd have a criminal record a mile long, destined to be nothing more than a drain on society since they'd be permanently branded and unemployable in most places. That's not a good way to build up your future economy and industry, not to mention international competitiveness!
Punishing a child by permanently destroying their hopes and dreams shows some badly misplaced priorities.
[+] [-] Diamons|13 years ago|reply
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/JusticePorn/comments/1ewpyc/kiera_wi...
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] cstavish|13 years ago|reply
How uncomfortably scripted is that?! It's a really bizarre nod to the allegations that she was being reckless.
[+] [-] raverbashing|13 years ago|reply
Just let's hope this doesn't happen: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091993/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
[+] [-] matt_brushlabs|13 years ago|reply
this youtube user was kind enough to upload the entire film. Enjoy Lea Thompson at her finest. http://www.youtube.com/user/lopm2435?feature=watch
[+] [-] rbanffy|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DevMonkey|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IvyMike|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bane|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] walshemj|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] septerr|13 years ago|reply
I read Rocket Boys recently so it was kind of cool finding Homer Hickam in news.
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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