• Briar  MacLean, 13, stepped after seeing a fellow pupil pull a knife on another during  argument at school
• He disarmed  the boy, but was then disciplined by staff for ignoring school rules saying he  should have found a teacher
• His furious  mother said that she has taught her children to stand up for others and not run  away

By  Damien Gayle

PUBLISHED: 08:41 EST, 1 June  2013 |  UPDATED: 08:41  EST, 1 June 2013

A schoolboy who bravely tackled a  knife-wielding pupil who was threatening a classmate was punished because such  heroic actions are strictly banned.

Briar MacLean, 13, stepped in after he  spotted an argument was quickly beginning to escalate between two boys at Sir  John A. Macdonald school in Alberta, Canada.

Suddenly one of the boys pulled out a knife  and began to threaten the other turning an scuffle into a potentially deadly  situation.

 

Hero: Briar MacLean, 13, from Alberta, Canada, stands  outside his school where he tackled a knife-wielding pupil – and was punished  because such heroic actions are strictly forbidden

The heroic teenager charged and tackled the  knife-brandishing youngster into a wall sending both attacker and knife falling  to the floor.

But for his bravery the pupil received not a  commendation but a stern telling off from staff for ignoring school  rules.

According to the Calgary Board of Education,  Briar should have left the scene to find a teacher – abandoning the unarmed  student.

Instead instincts kicked in and he chose to  act – meaning there were no cuts, no stab wounds, and no need to call an  ambulance.

Briar said: ‘He pulled out his flip knife so  I came in and pushed him into the wall.

‘It was just to help the other kid so he  wouldn’t get hurt.’

Briar’s reward for his bravery was a day in  the school office, removed from the other students, and a stern lecture about  not playing the hero.

 

‘We’ve taught him to do the right thing’: Briar with his  mother Leah O’Donnell, who was furious when she learned her son was being  disciplined for stepping in to help his classmate

His mother Leah O’Donnell was furious at the  dressing down.

She said: ‘I received a call from the school  vice-principal indicating there was an incident at the school and that my son  had been involved.

‘They my son was in trouble for being a part  of it.

‘They told him they don’t condone heroics in  the school and he wasn’t allowed to go back to class for the day. Isn’t that  horrible?

‘We’ve taught him to do the right thing and  to step in – in our family we teach our children that they need to stand up for  others and not run from danger out of self-preservation.

‘When did we decide as a society to allow our  children to grow up without spines? Without a decent sense of the difference  between right and wrong?

‘We’re coddling kids and that doesn’t make  for strong individuals when they grow up – what are we teaching these  children?’

A spokeswoman for the Calgary Board of  Education said details of the incident could not be discussed due to privacy  regulations.

But the Calgary Police Service confirmed they  were called to the school where a student had pulled a knife while fighting with  another, and a third boy had intervened to disarm the student.

The student with the knife has apparently  been suspended and police are still investigating, meaning charges have not been  ruled out.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334321/Heroic-Canadian-schoolboy-disciplined-disarming-knife-wielding-classmate-broke-school-rules.html#ixzz2V1d28ODj Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Categories: Hmmm?

Tags: Alberta, Briar MacLean, Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Police Service, Canada, John A. Macdonald, London, Teacher