No injuries, no damages, but felony charges

[Kheldarson]

You're also assuming a level of thought and common sense that even most adults don't show.

She probably went "neat, let's try it" and then "wait, can't do it at home...let's try it at school!" And that was it.

Not saying she shouldn't be punished (detention, suspension) but expulsion and felony charges? That will follow her? That's too much.

[Greenday]

You're also assuming a level of thought and common sense that even most adults don't show.

She probably went "neat, let's try it" and then "wait, can't do it at home...let's try it at school!" And that was it.

Not saying she shouldn't be punished (detention, suspension) but expulsion and felony charges? That will follow her? That's too much.

Ignorance of the law isn't a valid defense and isn't accepted in court.

[Duelist925]

Ignorance of the law isn't a valid defense and isn't accepted in court.

You missed the point.

No one is saying what she didn't doesn't deserve punishment--saying the punishment FAR EXCEEDS the crime.

This was a very stupid thing to do.

But there was no malice behind it, nor is this girl a terrorist in training or anything.

The fact that she's expelled is bad enough. But I can understand that thought process.

But felony charges? For what amounted to, in the principles own words, something akin to a firecracker?

[Greenday]

You missed the point.

No one is saying what she didn't doesn't deserve punishment--saying the punishment FAR EXCEEDS the crime.

This was a very stupid thing to do.

But there was no malice behind it, nor is this girl a terrorist in training or anything.

The fact that she's expelled is bad enough. But I can understand that thought process.

But felony charges? For what amounted to, in the principles own words, something akin to a firecracker?

She won't see jail time. Community service at most.

[Racket_Man]

She won't see jail time. Community service at most.

maybe no jail time BUT if she is convicted she will then have a felony charge and conviction on her records now AND a record of expullsion that WILL follow her for a LONG time.

[Andara Bledin]

I like the insistence that she "blew stuff up."

Makes me laugh. Then it makes me cry.

[wolfie]

Read the article - it happened in Polk County FL. Don't see why anyone would be surprised by even the most extreme stupidity coming from there.

[mikoyan29]

So rather than dealing with something through the school's disciplinary system, we are going to tie up the already busy courts with a meaningless trial and what not. but whatever...

Stop the world...I wanna get off...

[Greenday]

I like the insistence that she "blew stuff up."

Makes me laugh. Then it makes me cry.

Are you saying she didn't?

[Rageaholic]

So rather than dealing with something through the school's disciplinary system, we are going to tie up the already busy courts with a meaningless trial and what not. but whatever...

Stop the world...I wanna get off...

Considering that they tie up the court system punishing people who smoke a joint, this doesn't surprise me.

[Andara Bledin]

Are you saying she didn't?

I thought about this for a while, and you know what? I'm saying she didn't.

Popping the cap off of a soda bottle does not constitute "blowing stuff up." From what I can gather, the bottle itself wasn't even damaged, so that makes zero "stuff" that got "blown up."

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I thought about this for a while, and you know what? I'm saying she didn't.

Popping the cap off of a soda bottle does not constitute "blowing stuff up." From what I can gather, the bottle itself wasn't even damaged, so that makes zero "stuff" that got "blown up."

Especially when... you know... just dropping the bottle to the ground can cause the cap of a soda bottle (or gatorade bottle) to blow off.

Not kidding, this happened yesterday at my work. Guy accidentally dropped a gatorade bottle and the cap blew off and spilled gatorade everywhere... that yours truly had to then clean up.

[Greenday]

I thought about this for a while, and you know what? I'm saying she didn't.

Popping the cap off of a soda bottle does not constitute "blowing stuff up." From what I can gather, the bottle itself wasn't even damaged, so that makes zero "stuff" that got "blown up."

Ah, do you have sources on this that haven't been posted? That wasn't mentioned at all in the article posted in this thread.

What she was trying to create is a pressure bomb. There's millions of videos on YouTube and odds are that's where she got her idea. The hydrochloric acid mixed with aluminum forms hydrogen gas as a by-product, which builds up in the contained space until the bottle explodes. Relatively safe compared to IEDs sure, but it's still dangerous enough. If you are still holding onto it, it could severely damage your hand. She blew it up in an enclosed space so the sound could damage people's hearing. If it only blew off the cap, she didn't use enough but that doesn't change the fact that what she did was potentially dangerous and harmful to herself and all those around her.

Just because she's a good kid with good grades, I think everyone's pouring on the sympathy for her. If it was some trouble maker, everyone would be applauding the decision to expel her. They should be treating this as a life lesson: suspend her so that it's on her record but it's not severely damaging. Charge her with a misdemeanor and give her some community service. If I make a small fertilizer bomb and set it off in an empty field, would I not deserve some punishment for setting off explosives?

The punishment was more than what was necessary, but she deserves punishment none the less.

[Salted Grump]

<Snip>The punishment was more than what was necessary, but she deserves punishment none the less.

And that's what everyone's on about; we all agree she did something stupid, and deserves a slap on the back of the head and a dunce cap, not a session in the greybar hotel for something that even school officials admit caused no harm and no damage.

[Andara Bledin]

Ah, do you have sources on this that haven't been posted? That wasn't mentioned at all in the article posted in this thread.

I read upwards of 2 dozen articles yesterday referencing the event, and even posted half a dozen links that can be found on page 2 that gave better details. One of those that I read mentioned that the bottle was intact, but I have no idea which one and am not wading through them all over again.

And while one source (propagated all over the net) mentions that there was a secondary "explosion," that appears to be referring to the outpouring of smoke as opposed to further reaction, since the reaction is due to pressure build up, which would have been released once the cap was gone.

Article at the ACLU with even more details

This quote is interesting: "At the urging of a fellow classmate, she combined toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in an 8-ounce bottle."

This brings up several questions. Not the least of which as to why the friend hasn't been similarly punished and whether or not she even knew what was going to happen when she combined the two items.

If you take into consideration the facts that she stayed near the bottle and there was no harm done to people or property, it's likely that either the reaction was weak or the cap failed quickly (my suspicion is the latter) and it's also likely that she had no idea what would happen, because anybody that has any information at all beyond "it reacts" would know that such things can be quite dangerous.