Learning while Black 4
I wonder what they would have done to her if she had put Mentos into a Diet Coke.
16-year-old Kiera Wilmot is accused of mixing housing chemicals in a small water bottle at Bartow High School, causing the cap to fly off and produce a bit of smoke. The experiment was conducted outdoors, no property was damaged, and no one was injured.
Not long after Wilmot’s experiment, authorities arrested her and charged her with “possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device,” according to WTSP-TV. The school district proceeded to expel Wilmot for handling the “dangerous weapon,” also known as a water bottle. She will have to complete her high school education through an expulsion program.
I am certain that the fact the girl is black has nothing whatsoever to do with this. Nothing at all.
Via Chauncey Devega, who adds excellent commentary.
May 2, 2013 at 6:44 pm
I’m assuming it was a bleach bomb or vinegar and baking soda. Kids should have the opportunity to see that kind of thing in science class. Chauncey talks about chemical volcanoes. There were a few ways to make them when I was kid in chemistry class, pile of lit dichromate, test tube of sucrose to which is added sulfuric and nitric acid, and — again, baking soda and vinegar. Within ten years it had all been eliminated as improper. I learned a lot by being allowed to do things in a well-stocked science lab. And the double standard on race just makes it immeasurably worse.
May 2, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Heck, I had a Gilbert chemistry set when I was about 12. And, in HS chemistry, we had no end of fun with magnesium and water . . . .
The news stories don’t seem to have included just what the “household chemicals” were, at least not yet, but I’m betting that you are on the right track–some common base, maybe backing soda or bleach or drain opener, and something acidic like vinegar or Coca Cola.
Our education system has gotten well and truly stupid, investing in standardized tests (the most long-term damager of Bush’s many damagers) and stifling inquiry and curiosity.
Update, Moments Later: Apparently, the chemicals are now in the news.
May 3, 2013 at 12:45 pm
That woulda been sodium and water. And, yes, that was always fun. Magnesium ribbon, on the other hand, burns nicely too when lit. Toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum, OK. That’s the subject of a lot of home chemistry experiments. Cooler heads should have prevailed, perhaps with a follow up lesson on how to conduct the experiment in a more “scientific” manner.
May 3, 2013 at 10:15 pm
Magnesium is in the same family as sodium, IIRC.