Calgary student, 13, reprimanded for defending his classmate against a knife-wielding bully

National Post ^ | 5.31

[Arthurio]

Briar MacLean was sitting in class during a study period Tuesday, the teacher was on the other side of the room and, as Grade 7 bullies are wont to do, one kid started harassing another.

“I was in between two desks and he was poking and prodding the guy,” Briar, 13, said at the kitchen table of his Calgary home Friday.

“He put him in a headlock, and I saw that.”

He added he didn’t see the knife, but “I heard the flick, and I heard them say there was a knife.”

I heard the flick, and I heard them say there was a knife

The rest was just instinct. Briar stepped up to defend his classmate, pushing the knife-wielding bully away.

The teacher took notice, the principal was summoned and Briar went about his day. It wasn’t until fourth period everything went haywire.

“I got called to the office and I wasn’t able to leave until the end of the day,” he said.

That’s when Leah O’Donnell, Briar’s mother, received a call from the vice-principal.

“They phoned me and said, ‘Briar was involved in an incident today,’” she said. “That he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in.”

Ms. O’Donnell was politely informed the school did not “condone heroics,” she said. Instead, Briar should have found a teacher to handle the situation.

“I asked: ‘In the time it would have taken him to go get a teacher, could that kid’s throat have been slit?’ She said yes, but that’s beside the point. That we ‘don’t condone heroics in this school.’ ”

Instead of getting a pat on the back for his bravery, Briar was made to feel as if he had done something terribly wrong. The police were called, the teen filed a statement and his locker was searched.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

School administrator needs to be promptly unemployed in that profession. Permanent ban from ever setting foot on school property should be instituted against the individual as well.

[Jabba the Nutt]

The war on men.

[James C. Bennett]

I’m sorry to hear that. It’s a good thing you did with your grandchildren.

[popdonnelly]

The school is advocating a shabby moral standard, which I, for one, reject.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

In this case, I suspect that the Calgary Police Service were very close by. After all, there is a Tim Horton's approximately 0.2 km (1/8 mile) from the school!

Tim Horton's

[FutureRocketMan]

Idiots.... “go get a teacher” (who btw probably probably knows less about self-defense and crisis mitigation than a 7th grader does) “even if a life is in imminent danger”. So much for teaching kids responsibility! God Bless this kid.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

[Gumdrop]

Just proves once again that to be a liberal requires that you put aside all wisdom and knowledge in the service of feel-good politics.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Ms. O’Donnell was politely informed the school did not “condone heroics,” she said. Instead, Briar should have found a teacher to handle the situation

And what would the teacher do? Nothing but file a complaint after the fact. Maybe call the cops.

[longfellow]

BRIAR IS BATMAN!

[Republican Wildcat]

“They phoned me and said, ‘Briar was involved in an incident today,’” she said. “That he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in.” Ms. O’Donnell was politely informed the school did not “condone heroics,” she said. Instead, Briar should have found a teacher to handle the situation. “I asked: ‘In the time it would have taken him to go get a teacher, could that kid’s throat have been slit?’ She said yes, but that’s beside the point. That we ‘don’t condone heroics in this school.’

Does it get anymore moronic than this? He wasn't "playing" anything. Another student was being assaulted by a bully and he stepped in to counter the bully - it was very real. It was not a game. It isn't "beside the point" when someone is being assaulted in real time and he was the only one there in that moment that could do anything. He did not instigate, nor escalate, this situation.

And this teacher and principal are in charge of educating children when they don't have any sense themselves? I bet they claim if they have issues at their school it is due to "need for more funding."

[DoughtyOne]

Not sure what you mean there. Are you referencing the government programs mill?

[Revel]

Liberal thugs don’t like Hero’s because those liberal thugs are the ones most likely to be stopped in there evil deeds.

[Arthurio]

Yup.

[little jeremiah]

“They phoned me and said, ‘Briar was involved in an incident today,’” she said. “That he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in.”

Ms. O’Donnell was politely informed the school did not “condone heroics,” she said. Instead, Briar should have found a teacher to handle the situation.

“What are we going to do if there are no heroes in the world? There would be no police, no fire, no armed forces. If a guy gets mugged on the street, everyone is going to run away and be scared or cower in the corner. It’s not right.”

[Trod Upon]

That reprimand is a badge of honor for him and an indelible stain of cowardice upon those who issued it.

[pluvmantelo]

The part that bugs me the most is the locker search. On what grounds? Did they conclude he was ‘hopped up’ because he demonstrated courage? It seems to me they were fishing and/or punishing him. I’m surprised they didn’t take a DNA sample, fer cryin’ out loud.