Idiot travels to Iraq

Is this kid really that stupid? I thought that parents who gave birth to children this ridiculous were supposed to drown them when their level of idiocy reached its height. Perhaps the drowning is in the near future though, as Farris Hassan of Ft. Lauderdale is on his way home.
Hassan, in an ill-advised attempt to practice "immersion" journalism, decided that the best way to report on anything from Iraq was to, in fact, go to Iraq. Oh yeah, and the punchline: he's 16; left the country without his parents' knowledge; took a taxi from Kuwait City to the Iraqi border where he was turned away; and actually broke out an Arabic phrase book to ask for a menu from a street vendor.
If you haven't read about it yet, he e-mailed his mom after his departure; spent some time with family friends in Beirut; and flew into Baghdad to interview the people living there and the journalists covering the events. After his second night, he came across some AP reporters who were rightfully a bit concerned about why a so-obviously American kid was in a war zone by himself, and escorted him to the U.S. Embassy. Hassan left Baghdad this morning, and is on his way back to Florida.
Tell me, tell me, tell me that this kid is the idiot's exception to the rule, and that there are a lot smarter kids who can come up with much better ways to get extra credit in a journalism class.
Dude! You're in Florida! If you're looking for good news stories, check out Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama! I hear they've had a rough year there, too! And you don't have to bring an English-Arabic dictionary!