[redsniper]

Is that a bomb in your pocket?
Or are you just happy to see me?

[Colonol Dekker]

Nope, and i'm telling you all NOT to touch it.


Any suspect items, don't touch. If you don't feel safe, run a mile. Better tired than dead and rested.

[General Battuta]

While not touching it is probably a fine idea, two minutes of conversation with the kid can demonstrate that it's not a bomb to a reasonable degree of satisfaction.

[Colonol Dekker]

I completely agree.
I should have added unattended in hindsight.

In this case i imagine the VP to be one of those stubborn holier than thou SOB's. I think we've all met the sort in the past. Even while pleading our respective cases, they'd refuse to hear us out. Normally ending in embarrassment for all involved.


In any case.

This is still rubber-necking and glorification of a non-event.

[Blue Lion]

Because then you get crap like the kid getting sent to counseling for no reason whatsoever as if he did something wrong, and panic attacks that could be averted with a modicum of common sense.

Your common sense is to avoid doing what the school and police tell you to do and take it into your own hands to determine whether or not the object is a bomb? Really?

As it stands, it is so statistically improbable, leaning on astronomical, that you might as well not fly on planes if you think that any one of those little projects could be a bomb.

EDIT BEFORE THE POST:  Well, run a cost-benefit analysis on approaching the child.  If the device is a bomb, sucks for you.  That would be a bad thing, we all agree.  However, the odds of that happenening are astronomically low.  If the device is not a bomb, there is no harm done, and you kept the kid from being the next best thing to arrested for something he did to impress his friends.  If self-esteem matters even a tenth as much as all those school counselors say it does, it actually is worth it (IMHO).

Basically what you're telling me as a person who isn't trained in bombs to play the odds with my safety and the safety of the people in the school because if I do what I'm told to do, I may hurt a kids feelings?

Without a metal pole, in the middle of a clear sky, you are more likely to get struck by lightning than a kid is to bring a bomb to school.  Interestingly enough, I don't picture you as the kind of person who huddles in his house all day for fear of being struck by lightning, even though the risk is greater and doing that completely nullifies the risk.  Go figure.

Everyone keeps giving this risk reward debate. You do you know what would happen if this happened. Ignoring if it's a bomb or not. Nothing really good comes of it for me if I don't do what these people did. If it is a bomb, I've put people at risk by not doing what I'm supposed to do. If it wasn't a bomb and I didn't make a scene. If it's found out? I'd probably be fired.

It's the same thing with child abuse, I'm not qualified to tell if it's abuse or not. If it looks like it, no matter what the kid says, up the ladder it goes.

[General Battuta]

Walking over and looking at the device is not going to pose a huge risk if the kid's already showing it off.

You can then pass your findings up to someone who will do the same thing - without any need to evacuate the whole school and call in robots two hours later.

This has nothing to do with 'playing the odds'. You play these kind of odds every time you go for a drive, except your chances of killing multiple people are far, far higher.

[Colonol Dekker]

I agree with the child abuse parallel, and i agree with General B's pov as well.

Damn, it's hard being objective....but you sure feel good for it.

[Blue Lion]

Walking over and looking at the device is not going to pose a huge risk if the kid's already showing it off.

You can then pass your findings up to someone who will do the same thing - without any need to evacuate the whole school and call in robots two hours later.

This has nothing to do with 'playing the odds'. You play these kind of odds every time you go for a drive, except your chances of killing multiple people are far, far higher.

I (and probably 99% of teachers) probably couldn't tell the difference between a motion detector and a pipe bomb made from the same materials. I'm sure someone here can tell me how to make a bomb from a gatorade bottle. All you really need is a charge and a detonator, right? If the kid says it's not a bomb, but I still think it looks like one, I'm supposed to take his word?

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Here's a good question.  If the "bomb" was being passed around and shown off it apparently wasn't very volatile.  It think it even said that most of the parts were in the backpack and not put together.  Why evacuate the whole school through the hallways where the "bomb" is instead of getting the thing out of the school? 

* FUBAR-BDHR thinks someones security funding was up for review and saw an opportunity to show a need. 

[Blue Lion]

Here's a good question.  If the "bomb" was being passed around and shown off it apparently wasn't very volatile.  It think it even said that most of the parts were in the backpack and not put together.  Why evacuate the whole school through the hallways where the "bomb" is instead of getting the thing out of the school? 

* FUBAR-BDHR thinks someones security funding was up for review and saw an opportunity to show a need. 

Because that is school policy in how to deal with potential bombs. You can disagree with what the policy should be, but I'm fairly sure most, if not all places, run on a "Leave it and call the police" program.

[General Battuta]

Walking over and looking at the device is not going to pose a huge risk if the kid's already showing it off.

You can then pass your findings up to someone who will do the same thing - without any need to evacuate the whole school and call in robots two hours later.

This has nothing to do with 'playing the odds'. You play these kind of odds every time you go for a drive, except your chances of killing multiple people are far, far higher.

I (and probably 99% of teachers) probably couldn't tell the difference between a motion detector and a pipe bomb made from the same materials. I'm sure someone here can tell me how to make a bomb from a gatorade bottle. All you really need is a charge and a detonator, right? If the kid says it's not a bomb, but I still think it looks like one, I'm supposed to take his word?

No, you're not, but if he tells you it's a motion detector and shows you how it works, then you probably could. Especially when you work at a tech school that encourages stuff like this.

[Blue Lion]

Walking over and looking at the device is not going to pose a huge risk if the kid's already showing it off.

You can then pass your findings up to someone who will do the same thing - without any need to evacuate the whole school and call in robots two hours later.

This has nothing to do with 'playing the odds'. You play these kind of odds every time you go for a drive, except your chances of killing multiple people are far, far higher.

I (and probably 99% of teachers) probably couldn't tell the difference between a motion detector and a pipe bomb made from the same materials. I'm sure someone here can tell me how to make a bomb from a gatorade bottle. All you really need is a charge and a detonator, right? If the kid says it's not a bomb, but I still think it looks like one, I'm supposed to take his word?

No, you're not, but if he tells you it's a motion detector and shows you how it works, then you probably could. Especially when you work at a tech school that encourages stuff like this.

I'm almost positive I would have no idea if he was telling the truth or not. I don't even know how a homemade motion detector would work. I'm not even sure I could tell you how a commercial motion detector works. All he has to do is tell me it doesn't work. Anything.

You're assuming it is what he says it is. If it is a bomb, he can say whatever he wants and I really couldn't tell otherwise. Do you really think some 50 year old English teacher is going to be able to tell otherwise?

[Scotty]

You apparently missed my sentence talking about "find someone who knows what the hell they're talking about" when I proposed the alternative earlier.

[Colonol Dekker]

You guys sure like dragging out a subject don't you.
 
If I said it was a security guard first day on the job with an executive boarding a plane who happened to have a new gadget in his luggage, would this still be on the same track?

[Blue Lion]

You apparently missed my sentence talking about "find someone who knows what the hell they're talking about" when I proposed the alternative earlier.

They have those people, they're called the bomb squad.

[General Battuta]

Walking over and looking at the device is not going to pose a huge risk if the kid's already showing it off.

You can then pass your findings up to someone who will do the same thing - without any need to evacuate the whole school and call in robots two hours later.

This has nothing to do with 'playing the odds'. You play these kind of odds every time you go for a drive, except your chances of killing multiple people are far, far higher.

I (and probably 99% of teachers) probably couldn't tell the difference between a motion detector and a pipe bomb made from the same materials. I'm sure someone here can tell me how to make a bomb from a gatorade bottle. All you really need is a charge and a detonator, right? If the kid says it's not a bomb, but I still think it looks like one, I'm supposed to take his word?

No, you're not, but if he tells you it's a motion detector and shows you how it works, then you probably could. Especially when you work at a tech school that encourages stuff like this.

I'm almost positive I would have no idea if he was telling the truth or not. I don't even know how a homemade motion detector would work. I'm not even sure I could tell you how a commercial motion detector works. All he has to do is tell me it doesn't work. Anything.

You're assuming it is what he says it is. If it is a bomb, he can say whatever he wants and I really couldn't tell otherwise. Do you really think some 50 year old English teacher is going to be able to tell otherwise?

Probably not, in which case you're screwed if it really is a bomb.

Nonetheless, I'd trust the kid. This culture of paranoia has gotten a bit out of control - school bombings are incredibly rare, and assuming that a kid with a gadget is a bomber before anything else just seems absurd.

[Blue Lion]

But that's the thing, I'm nobody. I don't get to make those decisions. I can't say who does and doesn't get suspended, get the police called in, investigated for child abuse, whatever. I mean you can by keeping quiet, but you get in trouble for that.

If you see something, you basically have to tell someone. If I see something that looks like a bomb, and I "investigate" and it IS a bomb? Well I'm screwed. Fired, possible criminal charges, possible civil suits from parents and other employees, the knowledge that my actions could have led to injury or death.

And I keep saying this but  I don't know anything about bombs really. That's why they'd rather come in 100 times to defuse random crap than let the one time it is a bomb go untold because some schmuck decided it was all cool.

[General Battuta]

We're not necessarily criticizing you, though, so much as the system that's created these circumstances.

[Colonol Dekker]

It worked this time around. It was simply a false alarm. . .
 
That's all, nothing more, nothing less.

[Blue Lion]

We're not necessarily criticizing you, though, so much as the system that's created these circumstances.

Oh I was referring to myself in sort of a vague "If I found it". I don't take it personally. I'm using myself as an everyman in this scenario.