Mother and sons upset over school bomb video

By Dena Libner

In 2004, Richard and Robert Wentworth, now 15, decided to try and build a bomb out of a plastic soda bottle and ethanol racing fuel, using a rag for a wick. The bomb exploded prematurely, leaving Richard with fourth-degree burns on his leg. The twins said they got the idea to build a bomb from a television show "and video games."Having experienced firsthand the disastrous effects of homemade bombs, the boys became upset over an educational video that was played in their physical science class last month. They allege that it teaches viewers how to make pipe bombs.The 1997 video is called "The Bombing of America" and was produced by NOVA, a science documentary series broadcast on PBS.The video, which is one-hour long, features the federal government's use of forensic science to track down bombers like the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski. It also shows the brutal aftermath of the World Trade Center bombing. Blood trickles down the faces of victims, and emergency respondents tend to bodies on the pavement or gurneys.While most of the film is dominated by shots of investigators shifting through rubble and, presumably to keep viewers interested, slow-motion shots of supervised explosions, there are a few scenes that Richard, Robert and their mother, Sarah, believe should not be shown in school.For example, the announcer explains how the combination of common ingredients, like sugar and Solidox (an oxidizing agent), can act as a dangerous explosive.Another scene in the video shows a man putting together a basic pipe bomb. He unscrews one end of the pipe, pours gunpowder into its hollow body, and then strings some wire from the inside of the pipe through its end. While the man completes the task, a voice-over says that the man "has no intention of giving a lesson."But a lesson in bomb-making is exactly what Richard and Robert fear their peers will take away from the video. "It was disturbing that they showed you how to make bombs," said Richard. "The boy next to me said that it's scary knowing that other kids in the class know how to make these bombs."But the video has been used by the school for a number of years, according to Principal Jack Loynd, and the information on the video is not hard to come by through other means."The kids today, they want that information, they go on the Internet," said Loynd. "The entire public has access to this video it's for home and educational use."Loynd echoes information provided by NOVA on the video's Web site that the main purpose of the film is to educate viewers on how forensic science and investigators "crack a bombing case." The video also details how dozens of high-school-aged bomb-builders are killed in the process every year."Many learned how from the Internet, where bomb instructions can be downloaded with the touch of a button," said the film's announcer. Sarah Wentworth, Richard and Robert's mother, watched the video after her sons complained to her about it."It gives more detail than I think kids should be hearing in school," said Wentworth. "I can see kids hearing about what bombs do, but not what they're made of."The video's information is certainly a double-edged sword. For a troubled teenager, it can serve as step-by-step instructions on how to build a bomb of his or her own. For anyone else, the threat of physical harm or death is an adequate deterrent to even thinking about building a bomb.Dena Libner can be reached at dena@conwaydailysun.com.