There was a time when 13-year-old Briar MacLean would have been hailed as a hero for saving a fellow student.

It takes courage and conviction to tackle someone threatening a classmate with a knife — but instead of a pat on the back, the Grade 7 student at Sir John A. Macdonald school was taught a harsh lesson in minding his own business.

“I received a call from the school’s vice-principal indicating there was an incident at the school and that my son had been involved,” said Leah O’Donnell, Briar’s mom.

“I was informed that my son was in trouble for being a part of it.”

Kids getting in trouble at school is nothing new — but Briar, according to what the vice-principal told his mom, was in the hot seat for preventing a potential tragedy on Tuesday morning.

The trouble started over an altercation between two boys at the school, located at 6600 4 St. N.W.

Again, school scraps are nothing unique — but then one of the boys pulled out a knife, turning an angry scuffle into something far more serious and potentially deadly.

At this point, according to the strict rules of the Calgary Board of Education junior high, MacLean should have left the scene to find a teacher, abandoning the unarmed student to his fate.

But instead of doing what was required, MacLean did what was right.

The young teen charged into the fray and tackled the knife-brandishing student.

The jolt sent the student and knife to the floor, leaving the potential stabber with a nasty bump on his noggin — but that was the extent of injuries received at Sir John A. Macdonald school that day.

No cuts, no stab wounds, and no need to call an ambulance — all thanks to a kid who chose to act rather than cower or run.

“He pulled out his flip knife so I came in and pushed him into the wall,” said MacLean.

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

MacLean’s reward was a day in the office, removed from the other students, and a stern lecture about not playing the hero.

Thankfully, the boy has a family to tell him what’s right.

“They told him they don’t condone heroics in the school and he wasn’t allowed to go back to class for the day,” said O’Donnell.

“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.”

The school itself didn’t return calls Wednesday, and a spokeswoman with the Calgary Board of Education said details of the incident couldn’t be discussed due to privacy regulations.

But the Calgary Police Service confirmed they were called to Sir John A. Macdonald school that morning, 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.

In the meantime, MacLean has been left to believe he’s done something wrong — though thankfully, he says he’d do it all over again.

His mom, meanwhile, is fighting back, exposing the school’s attitude on the matter and saying students shouldn’t be taught that sticking up for others is wrong.

“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?” reads the letter she wrote to the Sun.

Obviously, no school will encourage kids to place themselves in harm’s way — but to condemn a student who likely saved another from serious injury or even death is a terrible lesson for the entire junior high.

“We’re coddling kids and that doesn’t make for strong individuals when they grow up,” said O’Donnell.

“What are we teaching these children?”

michael.platt@sunmedia.ca

On Twitter: @SUNMichaelPlatt