http://fusion.net/story/197958/irving-texas-police-arrest-mu...
But then this article has a completely different picture:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/15/student...
If it was really mounted in that case in your picture, it's indeed a little funny looking. I mean, all of this politically correct rage is misplaced if the fucking thing actually did look like a bomb. You gotta know that's not something to take into a school...
And who "invents" a clock anyway? It's sort of already-done. I mean, 50 years ago kids were putting together AM radios with electronic kits. At least that's sort-of interesting. It picks up signals from a 1000 miles away--cool! I mean, a clock? Why not invent an inclined plane next?
Oh, well. The media needs to push its narrative.
Clocks use a variety of circuit blocks - you need something to keep time; you need something to display that time; you can add other features.
With just "keep time" and "display time" you still have a variety of different methods. You can count mains frequency; you can use crystals and dividers. Displays can be 7 segment LEDs or LCDs or binary or analogue motors. Each require different approaches.
Even if it's just a shop-bought off the shelf kit the student learns a bit of component identification and handling and some soldering skills.
