The clock says it’s time for 14-year-olds to study

Obviously, Ahmed Mohamed built more than a hand-wired digital clock.

The Irving 14-year-old built a springboard to renown among the picked-on science geeks of the world, to an “American Muslim of the Year” award and to the White House as one of 300 teens at “Astronomy Night.”

For his imagination, Mohamed has won deserved praise as a model who can inspire other students to study science.

Now, as he leaves to continue his own studies in Qatar, he can best encourage other teens by telling them to study hard and stick to their lessons.

The velocity of Mohamed’s fame has been stunning. Mohamed was arrested Sept. 14 at MacArthur High School in Irving and released hours later, but still suspended by school officials who called the clock a prohibited “lookalike weapon.”

Civil rights advocates have called it racial profiling. Irving police say they only held him while they investigated whether he meant to scare anyone.

Even conservatives call it an example of misguided “zero tolerance” policies and heavy-handed, overboard use of police in schools.

Mohamed will enroll in a Qatar Foundation program for young innovators, his family said Tuesday. Even a famous scholar belongs in school.

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 3:57 PM with the headline "The clock says it’s time for 14-year-olds to study."