The Insanity of Fear

In today's world we have to monitor high school science fairs, as some experiments might, in the words of the Polk County Schools, be a “serious breach of conduct.” Here is an example of such a breach.

A 16-year-old student with an exemplary record conducted a small experiment with a water bottle and some household chemicals.  The experiment was conducted on the high school grounds.  It resulted in the bottle cap flying off and smoke coming from the bottle.  No injuries, no property damaged.  Yet, the student was arrested for “possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device".  Having been arrested, the student was expelled for handling a "dangerous weapon", the water bottle.