While I don’t think a child of 14 would be astute enough to trigger such a nuanced event, I do think a 14 year old would do what their parents asked them too. It would not be a far cry to think a couple of parents that feel their religion and culture is subject to over-sensitivity could scheme up scenario that would exploit that over-sensitivity. Lets be honest, there were a lot of reactions that seemed odd.

If the school thought it was a bomb, why did they not evacuate the school? If Ahmed was actually going for a clock, why isn’t the clock face visible without opening the case, and why would you use a case that looks like a cliche Hollywood timer-bomb? Further, there is the fact that the older sister has also had her run in with a bomb situation. My (highly amateur) guess is that people are way too focused on the actors, and not the directors of this situation. The parents have triggered this situation with intent. What their intent is, I will not attempt to guess. There was intent none-the-less.