Why a Boy Brought a Microwave to School

Spalding, Lincolnshire, is a town of about 30,000 people in the eastern part of England. (Here’s a map.) It’s home to the Spalding Grammar School, a school for 11 to 18 year-old boys, with a typical enrollment hovering just below 1,000 students across the grades. It was founded in 1588 and has been in continuous service ever since, but of course, it has adapted with the times. For example, like most schools, it presumably bans students from carrying things that have no purpose in a school — guns, booze, drugs, and the like. But, as one 17-year-old demonstrated in 2018, there was no rule against carrying around a microwave.

And that was important, because otherwise, he’d have a hard time studying.

Let’s start with a picture of Ford and his microwave, via Metro UK. Pay particular attention to what’s in the machine — it’s not a frozen meal.

Yes, those are Ford’s school books.

If that seems like a silly way to carry your books from place to place, well, you’re right — a backpack would make a lot more sense. But unfortunately for Ford, that wasn’t an option: the school banned its older students from using backpacks while in school. As Metro UK reported in the above-linked story, “The school stated that ‘injury was being caused to younger students’ because of ‘ever-larger bags’ being carried on their shoulders.” Basically, the school believed, big kids were carrying too many books in their bags, slinging the bags over their shoulders, and knocking little kids in the process. And the solution was to ban backpack use by bigger students entirely.

Most students did what the school asked — they carried their books, without a bag, from class to class. (It’s unclear why the school didn’t just recommend tote bags, which do not go one one’s shoulders and therefore, wouldn’t cause this cudgel-like problem articulated above.) But Ford decided that wasn’t acceptable — he had a lot of books, and he didn’t want to have to carry them in a big stack. So, as Euronews reported, he engaged in “a week-long ‘peaceful protest’ during which he brought his books to school in various items, including a wicker basket, a saucepan, sandwich bags attached together with a padlock, the back end of a lawnmower and finally the microwave.” He and more than 400 others — students and parents alike — also signed a petition, asking Spading Grammar to reverse course or, at least, find a middle ground solution.

The protest and petition, though, didn’t seem to make a difference. Per Yahoo, the “rule that says bags are not to be used during lessons has been in place for over 25 years, according to the student, but it has never been enforced,” so and the school wasn’t interested in removing the rule. They were, however, willing to take action against Ford. He had a cellphone with him and, per school rules, had to turn that in on demand; when he refused, he was suspsended for two days. The petition was also taken down on the shcool’s urging. As of this writing, the backpack ban still appears to be in effect.

The ultimate whereabouts of the microwave have gone unreported, but when Ford returned to school, he didn’t bring it with him — while it earned him a lot of headlnes, it wasn’t a practical way to bring one’s books from class to class.

Bonus fact: Ford hopefully didn’t try to take apart the microwave, because doing so can be very dangerous. From 2006 to 2008, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, two people on average died annual from trying to repair their own microwave (pdf). That’s probably because, as the CPSC explains, “the possibility for electrical shock from a microwave oven still exists even after the oven is disconnected from the power source.” Specifically, per Repair Clinic, “high voltage capacitors used in microwaves may retain a charge even after the power cord has been unplugged” and “f you come in contact with a charged capacitor, the risk of injury and even death is considerable.” So please, let a professional fix your broken microwave, and don’t use it as a backpack.

From the Archives: Grape Balls of Fire: A science experiment you can do in your microwave, but really, I wouldn’t — it’s probably dangerous.