Florida: Teen Faces Felony Charges for High School Science Experiment
May 2nd, 2013Via: Riptide:
Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn’t the kind of kid you’d expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but that’s exactly what happened after an attempt at a science project went horribly wrong.
On 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. The reaction caused a small explosion that caused the top to pop up and produced some smoke. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.
According to WTSP, Wilmot told police that she was merely conducting a science experiment. Though her teachers knew nothing of the specific project, her principal seems to agree.
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After the explosion Wilmot was taken into custody by a school resources officer and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds and discharging a destructive device. She will be tried as an adult.
She was then taken to a juvenile assessment center. She was also expelled from school and will be forced to complete her diploma through an expulsion program.
In the modern age of America, geniuses such as Tesla, Edison, Westinghouse, Morse, Bell, and the Wright Brothers would be sent to prison long before they could make any contributions to science or invention.
Nobel, Oppenheimer, Einstein, et al, would get 60 years each in the electric chair with no parole these days. Perhaps they deserve it, but clearly this kid doesn’t.
In jr hi (circa 1972) I watched a friend of mine in chemistry class do an experiment grinding saltpeter and something else together with mortar and pestle, standing right next to the teacher. It exploded, teacher asked him if he had the slightest idea what he was doing, he said, “no,” and I almost died laughing. Nobody was labeled a terrorist, there was no talk of wmd’s, nobody was arrested or expelled and we all learned not to make assumptions with chemicals…and I have the looks of two startled faces forever etched in memory.
@ Larry Glick:
I believe that’s the point. To limit advancement you don’t need to worry about the average student. You just need to find any potential ‘Tesla’ early on and either co-opt them, control them or lock them away.