Boy and girl arrested for discussing magazine article

A Florida schoolboy and his girlfriend arrested for talking about bombing their school said they were discussing a magazine article.

The 17-year-old boy said he was having a telephone conversation with his 15-year-old girlfriend about the Time magazine article and whether it would be possible for anyone to bomb their school.

Their cordless phone call was overheard on a scanner by a neighbour and the pair were arrested and held in custody overnight.

Sheriffs are considering charging the pair with making a bomb threat, while officials at Sickles High School in Tampa could ban them from school for up to two years.

But their parents maintain the telephone conversation was innocent and said their children are being harshly treated.

"I'm sitting here thinking my son's life is devastated over a phone conversation," the boy's mother said.