A San Diego middle school was evacuated last Friday on suspicion that a student had brought a bomb into the school. It turns out that the “bomb” in question was a homemade motion detector one of the students had been building, which he had brought in to show off. Ironically, the school in question was a Magnet School that specializes in science and technology education. The school’s Vice Principal spotted the device which had electrical wires on it and immediately assumed it might be a bomb. Cue the requisite evacuation, police investigation, search of the family home, etc.

After many hours it was determined that the Vice Principal over reacted. Apologies were issued to the student, his parents, and the community, and the VP was scheduled for some training such that in the future he might recognize real vs. imagined threats.

Yeah right. Actually, the police decided that no criminal charges would be filed and tried to make the family feel grateful that they would also not be seeking to recover the costs of the pointless investigation. The student was admonished for violating unspecified school policies, but found to have no criminal intent. Finally, the entire family was recommended for counseling. Seriously.

So let’s recap. A school official decided a science geek in a school devoted to his ilk was acting suspiciously by having some home built tech on him. The official determines the next logical step is an evacuation and a call to the bomb squad. And as a result the student must undergo counseling. The only way this makes sense is if the counseling is to teach the student how to avoid dunderheaded bureaucrats like his Vice Principal in the future.

Let that be a lesson to you kid. You should know better than to undertake any projects not assigned by the school. For cryin’ out loud, if you’re going to show that kind of initiative, keep it in your garage from now on!