Thursday, January 14, 2016

Remember Ahmed Mohamed?

Originally posted: October 22


Ahmed Mohamed: a 14-year-old making the headlines for all the wrong reasons last month.
Well if you don't remember, Ahmed was arrested at his Texas high school for bringing a homemade clock to school but was unfortunately mistaken for a bomb. Although he wasn't formally charged following a police investigation showing that there was no evidence to support this claim, the high  school freshman was still suspended from school for three days because of his invention.


On October 20th, Ahmed went to the White House for "Astronomy Night," after receiving an outpour of support from people around the world, including our President. President Obama's tweet said"Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what what makes America great." Like, RETWEET! According to the White House blog, Ahmed was with scientists, engineers and visionaries from astronomy and the space industry, along with students and teachers. DJ Patil, Deputy Chief technology Officer for Data Policy and Chief Data Scientist for the White House, said: "We think Ahmed will fit right in. That's because we think it's really important that kids with a passion for science and technology have the opportunities they need to reach for the stars." He also had the experience to share this experience with those in attendance and spent the evening stargazing from the South Lawn

Following his arrest, Ahmed stated at a press conference that he would not be returning to MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas following his arrest. "If I was a Caucasian male, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gotten arrested," he said. Even with everyone standing up for Ahmed (#IStandWithAhmed!!!!!) Lesley Weaver, a spokeswoman for the Irving Independent School district, said "We're never going to take chances with student safety." Right.

With Obama's effort and invitation to the White House, it's the big step towards not singling out students like Ahmed.

Thanks, Prez!

xoxo, Kaila
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 14, 2016 at 6:55 AM

    1. I wrote this post to share the outcome of what happened to Ahmed which I wrote about in a previous post.
    2. I didn't have difficulty writing about this because I had background information in the situation and then I liked this because he got the reward that he deserved for his accomplishments.
    3. The purpose of this was for the reader to be proud that he was able to accomplish this even though he was knocked down due to peoples assumptions and his race. Also to share the information of the outcome rather than leave them hanging.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 20, 2016 at 5:20 AM

    I loved this post the first time it was put up, and I still love it! I have been trying to keep an eye on this story since it happened, but unfortunately it seems that he has fallen out of the public eye a bit - which means this point is all the more important for us. Your sense of voice in this post, illustrated by your sentence structure (Ex. ...Right. or Like RETWEET!) and your use of caps words throughout, is strong and compelling in this post. It helps to draw out your perspective and asks the reader to think like you about Ahmed and what he experienced. Also, your way of including hashtags and Tweets here speaks directly to your age audience and readers which is perfect. I also find it intriguing that you have two posts favorited that are about school safety, but one asks for more caution, the other for calm observation and a realization of the situation.

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