Curiosity Rewarded: Florida Teen Heading to Space Camp, Not Jail

Kiera Wilmot, the Florida high school student who was expelled from her school after an unauthorized science experiment was misperceived as a weapon (at least for purposes of arrest and charging), won't be going to jail. She will, though, be going to Space Camp, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign started by author and former NASA engineer Homer Hickham. All charges against her have been dropped.

in my class

[slashmydots]

In my high school chemistry class, we made gunpowder (which someone accidentally shattered a mortar and pestle with) and hydrogen mini-rockets (we filled ours with butane and put a hole in the ceiling tiles) and that was called a chapter in the book, not a crime. Though unlike the media, I think the difference isn't that I'm white, it's that that school district and police department is full of complete morons.

Re:I Think This Is A Bad Thing

[WillgasM]

What's wrong with the world? Really? As much as I love to fly in the face of authority, I still think rules serve a purpose in society. I broke plenty of rules as a young'n, but I managed to not get caught. If I did get caught, I didn't expect to be sent to camp. She's curious, and that should be encouraged. She blatantly broke rules and got caught, that should be punished. There is a happy medium somewhere between prison and all-expense-paid vacation. Rewarding this girl for breaking rules will only drive her to a life of politics.

Re:Good to see intelligence rewarded for once.

[schlick]

which mandates expulsion for any "student in possession of a bomb (or) explosive device... while at a school (or) a school-sponsored activity... unless the material or device is being used as part of a legitimate school-related activity or science project conducted under the supervision of an instructor

Technically, (and theses people seem to love technicalities), party poppers, snappers, and other harmless things are grounds for expulsion... And people think that parents who home-school their children are the crazy ones.

Re:Good to see intelligence rewarded for once.

[Attila Dimedici]

"NO EXCEPTIONS TO RULES EVER" is the most important message schools can teach to kids.

That is actually the rule that public schools were set up to teach kids. That the kids who go to public schools are to follow the rules and do what their "betters" tell them to do. Now the children of those "betters" go to private schools and receive different lessons.