In the picture above, is Briar McLean, a 13 year old high-school student that was disciplined by his school – John A.Macdonald School in Alberta, Canada – after he stepped in and disarmed another student who had pulled out a knife and was preparing to attack a third fellow student. A skirmish had broken out in the schoolyard and Briar, noticing that one of the two belligerents was about to escalate the whole thing to a less credible proportion by pulling out a pocket knife, tackled him into a wall without hesitation, causing him to drop his knife.
Clearly, Briar is not only a hero but much better groomed than Justin Bieber and his stooges.
However, the school principal rewarded the hero by having him spend a day in office, isolated from the other students, as well as lecturing him about the dangers of being a “hero.” According to the Calgary Board of Education, Briar should’ve left the unarmed child unattended and gone to “retrieve” a teacher.
His mother, (the lovely) Leah O’Donnell, also in the picture, was understandably furious, stating that her family had raised their children by teaching them to stand up for themselves and not to run at the first sight of danger. And in most opinions she is absolutely correct.
Oh dear, where do I begin?
For starters when did teachers become “peacemakers” in the schoolyard? I’ve never known any of my teachers, from kindergarten to college (CEGEP in Quebec…) to be anything more than yellow belts in what mostly was the martial art of curling, and this includes all my phys-ed teachers.
Secondly, when did it become okay to abandon someone, ANYONE in distress and in a situation in which they could get injured? By those standards we would all become part of a society of completely inapt cowards, ready to run all Samwell Tarlylike at the drop of a hat.
Thirdly, why bother selling any of the emergency equipment we are actually forced to have in certain buildings or vehicles? Stuff like fire extinguishers for example, what’s the point? Just run and call the fire department, wasting precious minutes during which your building, complete with loved ones and all their paperwork will have gone up in flames.
No Alberta, just no.
The student who pulled the knife has been suspended by the school, anything less would have been even more scandalous. Naturally the police aren’t allowed to talk of this case as it’s undergoing investigation.
What’s the point of all the anti-bullying campaigns though, if kids aren’t allowed to defend themselves, and their peers? I have a recommendation. Fire, in no specific order:
-The school principal
-Alberta’s minister of education
-Whoever the Calgary Board of Education’s director is
-Their respective moms.
[Source]
