Wednesday, global news outlets and social media feeds were inundated with the plight of Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old boy from Irving, Texas. Mohamed, a Muslim, was arrested, handcuffed and removed from MacArthur High School by police officers after he brought in a clock he made to show his engineering teacher. Another teacher, who asked to see what Mohamed had in his backpack after hearing the clock beep in class, interpreted the wire-laden device to be a threat. The teacher reported Mohamed to school officials, after which the arrest occurred.
The media has thoroughly critiqued and analyzed this incident as a stunning instance of Islamophobia and reactionary school policies. The picture of Mohamed in handcuffs, staring into the camera with an expression that lies somewhere between abject fear and incredulity, is poised to become an iconic indicator of where American society is in 2015.
The fallout of this incident, such as invites to the White House and Facebook headquarters, has ultimately been a positive one, despite the traumatic event; Mohamed has had his hard work and ingenuity affirmed, and a much-needed light has been shone on a troubling trend in American civil society.
However, most of the coverage of this issue has solely focused on Mohamed’s status as a Muslim: What about his status as a student? Why was a nonviolent 14-year-old, who clearly posed no physical threat to himself or others, handcuffed in the manner of a common criminal?
Mohamed’s situation is yet another example of the ongoing criminalization of young American students. In 2008, a 13-year-old boy in Stuart, Florida was arrested for "passing gas;" in 2012, a police officer in Milledgeville, Georgia arrested a kindergartner after she threw a temper tantrum. Yes, dealing with a petulant child is one of the most frustrating things a person can ever deal with, but handcuffing a 6-year-old? Why has this become OK?
The myriad tragedies this country has experienced, such as 9/11, Columbine and Newtown, have left us shell-shocked and reactionary to a fault.
Although we don’t take steps to get to the root of issues that would actually heal afflictions affecting the U.S., such as legal loops in gun control and inadequate mental health care, it seems we have no qualms about putting children between the ages of six and 14 in handcuffs, all with the aim of making us "safer."
There is nothing "safe" about degrading and humiliating children, just as there is nothing "safe" about irresponsible policing.
What unfolded in Texas on Wednesday is not an isolated incident that solely hinges around xenophobia and profiling, but is part of a much larger issue we must confront in American life.
