Another school with its priorities ass-backwards

[Pixilated]

As dangerous as the situation was, I do believe that, yes, the school is in its rights to mete out some punishment for the fact the student didn't follow some known or unknown procedure that put the student himself in danger, but the school should have also acknowledged that the student did do something that showed great strength of character. Make it a true teachable moment.

See, I don't agree that the school should've meted out any punishment for what the kid did. If the kid made a habit out of launching himself into dangerous situations (i.e. if this was the second or subsequent time), then yeah, because he would have (should have) had it made plain to him that you do NOT do this.

But this was a first incident (I can't see using the word "offence" under these conditions) and while I don't think the school should've given him a parade and a laurel wreath, I do think the best thing to do would've been an acknowledgement of his actions with a caution: "Glad to see nobody was hurt but please remember in future that you are to go fetch an adult."

[Andara Bledin]

If the one with the knife were being physical you would more accurately say "began to attack" and you wouldn't use the word "potentially." The articles tell us what happened. My entire point about probabilities would be moot IF the boy with a knife was physically attacking.

What we're missing here is the second bully who was actually the one currently involved in assault and battery. Mr. Knife was not physically engaged. You're wrong in point of fact.

You're making an awfully large assumption here that goes against what little information has been provided.

The boy with the knife was reported to be physically attacking. A quote from the article at Huffington Post:

"The [bully] put [the victim] in a headlock, and then he pulled out his switch-knife... and then I came in and pushed him into the wall," MacLean told Sun News in an interview last week.

Based on that snippet, the attacker had already gotten physical with the victim. To think that he would then de-escalate the violence is highly unlikely.

[Gravekeeper]

Based on that snippet, the attacker had already gotten physical with the victim. To think that he would then de-escalate the violence is highly unlikely.

That's what I initially saw on the news as well. Which may be the root of the reason for the current argument. My "frame of reference" as Yeti puts it is that there was already an escalating altercation.

And I'm not sure how familiar you are with a train-

Intimately. >.>

Also, the Skytrain here does not have conductors. There are no transit staff on the train with you to assist with Stabby McKidneyLaceration. You're on your own till the next stop and its doubtful the transit police are going to beat the train to that station. With the way the cars are laid out, Stabby can easily block the escape route of at least 1/3rd of the people on board too.

[HYHYBT]

And I'm not sure how familiar you are with a train, but unless you can physically overpower or possess the training to get that knife the people on the train are too close together.

Only sometimes. It wasn't originally presented as having any particular level of crowdedness; you seem not only to have jumped to the conclusion that it was jam-packed, but also that everyone else had the same picture in mind.

[Kheldarson]

See, I don't agree that the school should've meted out any punishment for what the kid did. If the kid made a habit out of launching himself into dangerous situations (i.e. if this was the second or subsequent time), then yeah, because he would have (should have) had it made plain to him that you do NOT do this.

But this was a first incident (I can't see using the word "offence" under these conditions) and while I don't think the school should've given him a parade and a laurel wreath, I do think the best thing to do would've been an acknowledgement of his actions with a caution: "Glad to see nobody was hurt but please remember in future that you are to go fetch an adult."

It would depend on exactly what the school code says, or doesn't, about this situation or a similar one. All I meant is that if the school wishes to give out punishment (for, say, being in a fight, since technically he was) because they do this in all cases that have a clear aggressor and want to be fair across the board, then they are in their right to. Sucks, but they can. And, to an extent, it also teaches a good lesson with heroics: you have to take whatever that choice throws at you in terms of consequences.

Either way, they should've recognized that he still made a choice in order to protect another student. Maybe even by assigning the punishment, but never making him serve it.

[Gravekeeper]

He was not punished by the school. Only reprimanded.

[draco664]

Apropos of how things are progressing...

[s_stabeler]

Only sometimes. It wasn't originally presented as having any particular level of crowdedness; you seem not only to have jumped to the conclusion that it was jam-packed, but also that everyone else had the same picture in mind.

over here in the UK, you can generally assume the train is some variety of unable to swing a cat, at least at peak times. Off-peak, you might need to worry about stabby mcstabson actually being able to stab somebody.

I've actually seen trains on the Tube (London Underground) where you physically cannot fit any more people on. Daily. (You know in Japan they employ people to push people onto the trains to cram people in? at peak times on the Tube, you oftne get thta kind of density w/o employing somebody to push. No, I never get on- the next train usually has few enough people that you are merely jam-packed.) Good luck stabbing somebody on THAT train.

[HYHYBT]

All well and good, but the original example still didn't say anything about it being during peak times.

[s_stabeler]

it was at school- it can be inferred it was in the corridors (if it was in class, it was the teacher's job to deal with the situation) and in my experince, corridors tend to be packed as well when kids are moving through them. I don't disagree that the kid should not have bene punished, I should say though, just that the corridor probably was packed.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't know how such a thing as location or time could be inferred. All we know for certain is that the bully had the victim in a headlock, was menacing him with a knife, and was close enough to a wall that the intervenor could check him into it and it was during the schoolday.

For all we know, they were the only three people in the immediate area.

Plus, the fact that the bully and his victim were next to a wall means that the relative crowding of the rest of the area is largely irrelevant and would only really have effected the intervenor's ability to reach them, which apparently was not impeded.

[s_stabeler]

actually, you can. if it was in class, where the hell was the teacher? as for the time being inferred, I wasn't inferring anything other than it being between classes ( since otherwise, there really shuld be mention of what the teacher was doing about all this), when they would be in the hallway.

EDIT- especially since if it was in class, then the intervenor wouldn't need to leave the scene to find a teacher- one's already in the room.