The school did not 'condone heroics'

As I was skimming through my daily dose of articles and headlines, one, in particular, caught my attention. It stayed with me most of the day, making me a little madder each time I thought about it. I decided to share it with you and add a few comments of my own….

Sarah Hofmann of TheDC reported:

"A thirteen year-old Canadian, Briar MacLean, was reprimanded by school officials for potentially saving the life of one of his fellow classmates. After defending the victim from an armed student, the vice principal chastised MacLean, saying that he should have gotten a teacher involved instead of acting quickly. ...MacLean instinctively jumped and pushed the bully away from the other student and then continued about his day unfazed. However, later he was called into the office and not allowed to return to classes for the rest of the day. The vice principal called MacLean’s mother, Leah O’Donnell, saying that her son was involved in an incident where 'he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in.' The vice principal added that the school did not 'condone heroics,' and that the proper course of action would have been to get a school administrator to handle it."

The school did not condone heroics. Really? Are they kidding? That, my friends, is a big part of where our values are headed. Don’t see a problem and take action to fix it. No. Go to someone in authority (the government) and get them to fix it for you. No heroics, please. Not even a little self-reliance. The best course is to rely on the government to solve your problems for you. What a bunch of wrong-headed baloney!

Turning to someone in authority is just fine, if you are faced by a problem you can’t handle or don’t know how to handle. Taking action to solve your problems for yourself is far better and will help you learn to succeed in life.

In this case, the boy saw another boy being bullied. He put a stop to it. That little action was far more effective than taking the time to find a teacher, explain the problem and wait until that person does something. And I guarantee it did a lot more to stop future bullying than if a teacher had done something. Bullies have to be confronted, on the spot, every time.

What was learned by these kids? Well, the bully learned that he can bully all he wants and other kids won’t interfere for fear of getting in trouble with the school administrators. And the kid who “played hero”? He learned not to get involved and mind his own business, even if someone is getting hurt.

What did we learn? We need to do a much better job weeding out idiot school administrators.

 

I seem to remmeber learning something in school. A quote by Edmond Burke: The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing

 

 

Live Long and Prosper....