School's failure to change clocks lands student 12-day stint in juvie

So even though the world didn't come to an end due to the earlier daylight-savings time changeover this year, one 15-year resident of Hempfield, PA certainly got burned by the supposed energy-conserving maneuver, as his school's inability or failure to change all of their clocks earned him 12 days in juvenile detention on charges of making a bomb threat. The story goes like this: For some reason sophomore Cody Webb decided to call the Hempfield Area High School delay hotline in the early morning hours of March 11 -- very close to the time we "sprang ahead" -- and claims to have hung up immediately after listening to the obvious "no delay" message. Well unfortunately for him, someone else called Hempfield that morning with a bomb threat, and because the phone system erroneously time-stamped that call as coming just minutes after Cody's, school and local law enforcement geniuses decided that they must have been made by the same person (despite one call showing up on caller ID while the other was blocked). Long story short, it took Cody's parents and their lawyer 12 days to get the honors student out of juvie; and while you would expect a public apology from everyone involved in this blunder after the facts came out, school officials are trying to pass the blame along to the state, which seems more concerned with covering its proverbial legal ass than making things right for the now-home-schooled Cody. Lessons learned? 1. Our schools need to devote more resources to teaching the nuances of telling time, and 2. Teenagers are clearly better off partying and causing mischief on a Saturday night than sitting at home on the phone.

[Via Slashdot, photo courtesy of S.C. Spangler/Tribune-Review]

[pyro @ Apr 17th 2007 9:30PM]

Don't tell me you're trying to pass off a clock being wrong as gadget news.

[b-rad @ Apr 17th 2007 9:36PM]

News or not... he's hott!

[Kev50027 @ Apr 17th 2007 10:52PM]

We don't accept people of your type in this world. Try the Sun.

[aaronlh @ Apr 20th 2007 5:38PM]

That was definitely my first thought too :)

[iptydafu @ Apr 18th 2007 9:17AM]

--It's just the lighting. Oh, and he's fifteen, Mr. Jackson.

[J L @ Apr 17th 2007 9:47PM]

Something makes me really hope that you are a woman, b-rad.

[Patrick @ Apr 17th 2007 10:22PM]

why u so worried?

[Boynamedsue @ Apr 18th 2007 12:01PM]

yeah cause nothing is more scary that a gay person.

you tool.

[Garrett @ Apr 17th 2007 9:51PM]

Gadget news or not, I'm glad I read about this. Always good to know nifty stories like this...

[Steve Shickles @ Apr 17th 2007 9:55PM]

This is BS!

[Grant @ Apr 17th 2007 10:00PM]

shouldn't the real moral of this story be that the local PD has retards working the detective work for this case?
Especially considering the profile of this kid? honors student, no record, likely suspect? TOTALLY!!!!
Good work Hempfield PD: "Two phone calls... placed in similar time periods.... THAT NEVER HAPPENS! TO THE CRUISER!!"

[Ed M. @ Apr 17th 2007 10:04PM]

"1.Our schools need to devote more resources to teaching the nuances of telling time, and 2. Teenagers are clearly better off partying and causing mischief on a Saturday night than sitting at home on the phone."
Whats is that? Schools in the United States in general are so protected by law that if a student accidentaly gets injured its there fault no matter what i know because it happend to me, why because some lazy shop teacher never taught the class and expected me to know what i was doing. My change from catholic high school to public was huge. Its a joke that public school administrators even get paid for what they do. And second not all teens go out and party and cause mischief or stay home on a saturday sitting at home on the phone maybe you did but not me.

[rob @ Apr 18th 2007 7:54PM]

Whoah. I'd rather spend 12 days in juvi than re-read Ed's comment. Drop the shop class and take another english class.

"because some lazy shop teacher never taught the class and expected me to know what i was doing" -- damn man. You're in high school, does your mother still breast feed you?! When are you people going to learn that you assume risk with every action you take? If you cut off a finger in a shop class, chances are it's not your shop teacher's fault but your own. Learn to assume some responsibility. Christ.

[Ed M. @ Apr 18th 2007 9:52PM]

Ha Rob, i was in High School. Im an enlisted Soldier now. Thanks for giving me the headsup but that happend 3yrs ago, maybe i'll consider an english major and teach your kids. And what do you mean assume some responsiblity? If i was in your garage fixing your car with your tools wouldnt it be your responsibility? Same goes with if i were to happend to fall down your stairs and break my leg. What happend to me was accidental for your information. Im sorry rob my perception of having fun is not cutting of my body parts maybe you would enjoy that but not me.

[The Infamous @ Apr 17th 2007 10:05PM]

wow...idiocracy has reached a new level.

[Linkdumptube.com @ Apr 17th 2007 10:08PM]

That's a bit harsh.

[Paul @ Apr 17th 2007 10:09PM]

I'm sure there is more to the story than this - there is no way he would be in juvy for 12 days on something like that.... generally within 48 hrs they have a court hearing before a judge with a defense attorney, etc.

Now...if he had prior arrests, was on probation, or other issues he may have sat there for 12 days on those.

Beware of newspapers and TV news... their job isnt to tell you a story it's to sell papers.

[Kev50027 @ Apr 17th 2007 10:55PM]

No, it's entirely true. They tried to kick me out of Private school just because I posted online that i hated the place.

[Linda Webb @ May 8th 2007 4:05PM]

Hey Paul You need to know what you are talking about before you speak. Cody spent 12 days in juvi because he refused to admit to the crime. NO prior record! The paper got it right.

[kingofwale @ Apr 17th 2007 10:21PM]

Sorry b-rad, I am sure he was already someone's bitch at the juvie.

two things that was HORRIBLY WRONG with this.

1... you do NOT throw someone in jail base on a close approximately of calls. Where's "innocent until proven guilty"?

2... I just PRAY there are better methods to protect our school than whoever was in charge of this.


I feel for this kid, I hope he sue the pants of the school and whoever.

[DoctaDJones @ Apr 17th 2007 10:26PM]

"My change from catholic high school to public was huge"

Apparently Jesus's skills as a carpenter were lost on you.

[Revrant2394 @ Apr 17th 2007 10:27PM]

Aw, poor guy, and the fact that they're passing blame is even more atrocious.

Home schooling justified.

[_V3ndetta_ @ Apr 17th 2007 10:33PM]

I hate school systems.

[Mike @ Apr 17th 2007 10:35PM]

And there you have it folks, the American school system, all summed up in one story.

[Sepy Bazzazi @ Apr 17th 2007 10:58PM]

The problem is the fact that he's an honors student. If he was a bit more relaxed and NOT an honors student he would have not given enough of a damn to actually call the school, therefore nobody would have confused it. Plus a bomb threat should not be worth Juvi time. If a bomb Threat is worth juvi time then ordering 14 pizza's to your school in the principles name should send you to death row lol.

Check out http://blog.eyebag.ca for cool gadget reviews, and talk shit.

[Ben @ Apr 17th 2007 11:09PM]

So you don't think a bomb threat is serious?

[Sepy Bazzazi @ Apr 17th 2007 11:28PM]

ya sure it's serious, especially when things like what happened at victoriatech happen, but once they find out it's a threat, and that no bomb went off, they should punish the person with community service, not with Juvi. what do you think?

[James @ Apr 17th 2007 11:43PM]

How can they be sure it WASN'T him? I think it was and he is just bitching because he got caught.

[tony @ Apr 17th 2007 11:53PM]

damn hes cute~!@~!!!@~!@!~ Whats this news about??

[Ayle @ Apr 18th 2007 9:36AM]

....

[Squirrels @ Apr 17th 2007 11:55PM]

It might be worth noting that the kid doesn't look like the "be home for kicks" type; that feathered hair is supposed to be out at late ours. Who's to say it wasn't him that called the first time, and then he switched phones, hoping that he could pull the ole' "well didn't someone else call tonight?" bit? I'm not saying the local PD shouldn't have their doughnuts withheld for a couple weeks for punishment, but its not out of the realm of possibilities. Straight A kid like that wouldn't do something so stupid as call once with a bomb threat, but he very well might think calling from two different lines hoping to displace the blame.

[kingofwale @ Apr 17th 2007 11:55PM]

>How can they be sure it WASN'T him? I think it was and he is just bitching because he got caught.


How can you know it was him?? other than the fact he called the school about 1 hour during a bomb threat?

The guy has EVERY right to be angry and frankly, every right to demand compensation for pure stupidity displayed by the school board.

[Semedar @ Apr 18th 2007 12:05AM]

Whoa that sucks xD stupid skooli ¬.¬

[invincible @ Apr 18th 2007 12:12AM]

The other lesson that should be learnt is that anything that uses timestamping also uses a reasonable timezone like UTC which is free of all the problems of changing the time twice a year.

[Noah Kravitz @ Apr 18th 2007 12:14AM]

If this story is accurate, that's garbage. Yet another absurd example of how the world's richest nation's school system and government are obsessed with entirely the wrong things. Lordy.

[Abbie @ Apr 18th 2007 12:15AM]

Yes. Now, even if you are a law abiding citizen, you do have to fear.

[Patrick Stanger @ Apr 18th 2007 12:23AM]

I think we are all missing how incredibly disappointed that mother looks in the picture. What could that kid have possibly done?

[TJ @ Apr 18th 2007 1:16AM]

Isn't this one of a CSI episode? lol

[Mat Mullen @ Apr 18th 2007 1:34AM]

I currently live in Lewisburg, PA and go to Bucknell University. PA politics and daily life is astounding to witness. The people are so far behind what the rest of the country thinks, it's unbelievable. Unfortunately, PA residents are a predominantly large group of EXTREMELY conservative catholics and really are out of touch with reality. When this story first came out, it didn't surprise me at all. It just made me realize how weird the people from all these little shit-town PA "villages" really are.

[Barmaid Blog @ Apr 18th 2007 2:22AM]

God, this is horrifying. This is really how our school administrators and police are wasting their time and our money?? If this kid or his family don't file an enormous lawsuit, they're the most patient, forgiving people in America.

http://barmaidblog.livejournal.com/

[john kyler @ Apr 18th 2007 6:58AM]

Seeing I live in the Hempfield area which happens to be a part of Amish Lancaster County, Pa. I can look forward to there being an IT job posting in the paper soon. Someone really dropped the ball on this one and seeing that it caused a teen to loose 12 days of his life. Then again maybe it was a learning process for both the school and the teen.

[Jacob @ Apr 18th 2007 7:27AM]

There's no "s" at the end of saving...

[Zut @ Apr 18th 2007 7:44AM]

They locked him up because they suspected he was related to a bomb threat??

What kind of sick, twisted, fearful police state do you Americans live in??

[Raijin @ Apr 18th 2007 8:21AM]

Thanks to them he has something on his permanent record. Two words. Fucking lawsuit.

[Pulsar @ Apr 18th 2007 8:58AM]

I graduated from Hempfield six years ago and this sort of thing was par for the course. A guy I knew was forced to go through mandatory drug counseling on nothing more than an *anonymous* tip that he might have been smoking pot. (He wasn't.) Hempfield administration has always had a policy of 'shoot first, ask questions later'.

As for the bomb threat itself, the district has had five in the past few weeks. They are looking for someone--anyone--to place the blame on at this point because they have no leads. That they used the most cursory of excuses to grab someone does not surprise me at all.

[b-rad @ Apr 18th 2007 1:41PM]

You know what happens when you make assumptions, you make an ass out of you and me. I am 17, so it's not actually anywhere near pedophilia. In response to JL, something really makes me hope you are not a bigot, but I guess we don't always get what we hope for. In response to Kev50023, it's not your world buddy and you better get used to it. Seriously. What the hell people? It doesn't matter who people are attracted to. If you have a problem with it then you can go wallow in the fact that there is nothing you can do to change it. It's disgusting that in this day and age anyone is persecuted for something they had no choice in. RESPECT THOSE AROUND YOU AND THE WORLD WILL BE A BETTER PLACE.

[Macvault @ Apr 18th 2007 9:30AM]

Just another classic example of how our corrupt covernmetns are turning this beautiful world into a freekin prison planet.... http://www.prisonplanet.com

[Barcelona Photoblog @ Apr 18th 2007 9:33AM]

No tech here but already generating a lot of buzz. Clever. I gotta try those keywords: "stint in juvie". With some luck we benefit from the tidal hype.

[ctcourt @ Apr 18th 2007 9:55AM]

When did they start using lead paint in the administration office for this school?

[Timerider @ Apr 18th 2007 10:25AM]

A-hole schools. They always try to blame someone else.
The school I was at sucked so now I home school. The principal of my old school yelled at my mom for taking me out because they don't get as much money now.
P.S. Their clocks took forever to get set even remotely right too.