CORY DOCTOROW: Candy-ass vice-principal calls the bomb squad over an 11-year-old’s science project, recommends counselling for the student. “A San Diego school vice-principal saw an 11-year-old’s home science project (a motion detector made out of an empty Gatorade bottle and some electronics), decided it was a bomb, wet himself, put the school on lockdown, had the bomb-squad come out to destroy X-ray the student’s invention and search his parents’ home, and then magnanimously decided not to discipline the kid (though he did recommend that the child and his parents get counselling to help them overcome their anti-social science behavior).” I don’t see the vice-principal’s name, but it should be made public. And the parents should sue.

Really, another reason to take your kids out of public school, where this kind of behavior is increasingly common.

UPDATE: Reader Bryan Woody writes:

I read this story in the Union-Tribune here and loved this line from the story:

“The school, which has about 440 students in grades 6 to 8 and emphasizes technology skills, was initially put on lockdown while authorities responded.”

So a vice-principal at a technology-centric magnet school freaks when a student actually uses technology, and is incompetent enough that he/she doesn’t know how it works?

That’s how it looks. Lame. He (or she) should be disciplined for this clueless overreaction, and probably sued.