Student's prom proposal bombs, gets him suspended for 5 days



LA CENTER, Wash. -- At a time of school shootings, violence and terrorism, it probably wasn't the best idea for asking a girl to the prom.

An 18-year-old senior at La Center High School was suspended Wednesday for wrapping a fake bomb around his waist as a "funny, clever" way to ask a girl to the prom, The Columbian reported.

Instead, the student, Ibrahim Ahmad, received a five-day suspension that will keep him from going to the school's prom Saturday night, the newspaper said.

Ahmad strapped a paintball vest to his waist and filled the open pockets with red paper tubes attached to red wires, so that it looked like explosives. Then he stood up in the cafeteria holding a sign that read: “I kno it’s A little Late, But I’m kinda…THE BOMB! Rilea, Will U Be My Date To Prom?”

That's when the school administration stepped in.

School Superintendent Mark Mansell told The Columbian that students didn't appear alarmed but, "I want all my kids to feel safe and supported" and felt he didn't to punish the student for strapping a fake bomb to his waist at school.

“I’m Middle Eastern, and I thought the bomb was kind of funny and clever,” Ahmad told The Columbian. “I wasn’t wearing the vest for more than, like, 20 seconds. I asked her, took a picture, took it off, and then the school got upset.”

Ahmad said although he won't be going to the prom, he and his proposed date will likely have a dinner date instead.