In which firecat is angry about injustice

[firecat]

Kiera Wilmot is a 16 year old black girl who attends high school in Florida. While at school (not during school hours) she engaged in an extracurricular chemistry experiment that produces a small explosion and some smoke. No one was injured and no property was damaged. She was expelled from school and will now have to attend an expulsion program.

Comments

[sabotabby]

This is horrible! The kid deserves a stern lecture about lab safety, coupled with tons of encouragement for her obvious intelligence and enthusiasm for science, not to have her whole life destroyed.

[firecat]

That's what I think too.

[sabotabby]

Speaking as an educator (albeit not a science teacher), my immediate reaction is, "hey awesome, a young girl who's interested in STEM-a young black girl, at that. Better encourage the hell out of that because every other part of our sexist, racist society is going to steer her away and tell her she's not good enough, and then handwring about why there are so few women in STEM fields." I can't fathom any educator thinking differently.

[firecat]

YES EXACTLY.

[hitchhiker]

yeah :( my first thought was "this is the black=troublemaker thing coming into play, isn't it"

[firecat]

:(

[hitchhiker]

i'm also a bit disappointed that a lot of people (rightly) up in arms over the increasing intolerance for students are ignoring that other elephant in the room.

[firecat]

Right.

[nancylebov]

I've signed the petition to drop the felony charges-- when I saw the link title, I thought it meant they'd already been dropped.

[firecat]

You're not the only one who misread it.