Teen Girl With A Penchant For Science Is Slapped With Felony Charges After Her Experiment Explodes
Given all the data that is out there regarding young girls and STEM fields, ladies who demonstrate an interest in science should be culturally supported. A quick peruse of certain popular culture guarantees that they certainly won’t be getting that support elsewhere. Yet when 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot, who reportedly “got good grades” and had “a perfect behavior record” had a science experiment go awry, she was slapped with felony charges. Way to support our young girls in the sciences.
Wtsp.com reports that the teen was arrested and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device. At seven a.m. that morning at Bartow High School, Kiera allegedly mixed some “household chemicals” in an eight-ounce water bottle. The top reportedly popped off creating a “small explosion” complete with smoke. No one was hurt, according to reports.
In addition to her criminal charges, she has since been expelled from Bartow High School. It remains unclear whether there was any malice in the experiment. But even the young lady’s school principal, as well as her peers, believe that she didn’t possess any vicious motives:
“She is a good kid,” said principal Ron Pritchard. “She has never been in trouble before. Ever.”
Wilmot’s friends and classmates said it was “a science project gone bad, that she never meant to hurt anyone.”
Even the teen’s principal said, “She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don’t think she meant to ever hurt anyone. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did. Her mother is shocked too.”
In response to the incident, Polk County Schools released the following statement:
“Anytime a student makes a bad choice it is disappointing to us. Unfortunately, the incident that occurred at Bartow High School yesterday was a serious breach of conduct. In order to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment, we simply must uphold our code of conduct rules. We urge our parents to join us in conveying the message that there are consequences to actions. We will not compromise the safety and security of our students and staff.”
Said “bad choice” warrants some wrist-slapping by the school administrators. A suspension maybe for risking the safety of other students and faculty in taking such a scientific whim on school grounds. But penalizing a seemingly precocious 16-year-old with such grave charges specifically for taking those scientific risks at all undermines scholarship.
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(photo: Africa Studio / Shutterstock)
