Boy's hug breaks school rule

[SmokingTarpan]

So some 13-year-old in Virginia gives his girlfriend a hug, and gets in trouble for it. Apparently the school has a no-touching rule, and this extends not just to hugging, but high-fiving and hand-shaking.

CNN has the story, but it's only up as a video. It's on the front page now, but if you can't find it do a search through their videos for 'hug', and you should see one that has the same title of this post.

The BEST part is when the president of the PTA starts talking about how good the policy is. "Even high-fives can get out of hand. Two boys in the hall high-five, then their three friends want to high-five, then a few more wanna join in. You have a traffic jam, you've got elbows flying, feet flying, someone can get bonked in the head and get hurt."

Hahahahaha. It's so true. I remember the great Plainfield High School tragedy of 1995. What started off as two guys shaking hands after having just met ended with 48 people in the hospital, a dozen puppies sent to the shelter, and one french mime so traumatized by the incident that he actually talked.

[jonan_]

No shaking hands? These kids are going to grow up the rudest kids ever. They will be in a business meeting and someone will extend a hand in there direction and they will just stare at it. Not teaching these kids very good manners. Or maybe they tell there kids that shaking hands is wrong in school but ok in certain situations?

[ScratchMonkey]

So, um, are teenagers allowed to touch themselves? Probably not. Might be terminal for the mime.

[TheFeniX]

Originally Posted by SmokingTarpan

The BEST part is when the president of the PTA starts talking about how good the policy is. "Even high-fives can get out of hand. Two boys in the hall high-five, then their three friends want to high-five, then a few more wanna join in. You have a traffic jam, you've got elbows flying, feet flying, someone can get bonked in the head and get hurt."

Calling this person stupid would be an insult to stupid people.

Speaking of, when will it be socially acceptable for someone to just look these people in the eyes and say "You're an idiot."? People consider that rude, but I consider the absurdity of this statement more-so. It's such an affront to the thought process of my brain, it should be labeled a WMD.

[El_Gringo_Grande]

This is not all that uncommon. A bit extrema maybe but not uncommon.

The school of my youth had fairly strict behavior and dress codes. Hugging was frowned upon. Shaking hands didn't happen just because who the hell shakes hands in high school? We couldn't high five in sports, that was a sign of arrogance or showing off. Very un-sportsman like.

If that is what that school wants the rules to be and the parents support it I say good. Maybe there was a discipline problem before and they took drastic measures to fix it. Want to stop the big problems? Then stop the little ones first. Kids are not stupid. They will take advantage of any situation given the chance.

[TheFeniX]

Originally Posted by El_Gringo_Grande

This is not all that uncommon. A bit extrema maybe but not uncommon.

The ISD motto: "Mediocre times call for drastic measures."

The school of my youth had fairly strict behavior and dress codes. Hugging was frowned upon. Shaking hands didn't happen just because who the hell shakes hands in high school?

I did, along with a good portion of the advanced students. Kids who care learn that a solid hand-shake says a lot more about your character than some hand-slap combined with a stupid form of fist mashing. In fact, by eschewing the whole "fist mashing" ordeal with people we met, we could break a lot of them of it.

We couldn't high five in sports, that was a sign of arrogance or showing off. Very un-sportsman like.

Only in the American Public Education system could "high-fiving" be considered "showing off."

If that is what that school wants the rules to be and the parents support it I say good.

When it comes to schooling, most parents are far too reactionary to have their opinions used and school boards are far too interested in keeping them happy with superfluous rules in order to keep their jobs. Such are the disadvantages of a district being setup as a local government entity. Most school rules are implemented on knee-jerk reactions rather any form of objective data. I've learned this from working both angles (both being a student and working for numerous ISDs).

Maybe there was a discipline problem before and they took drastic measures to fix it.

It's been my experience that "problems" with school discipline are drastically blown out of proportion.

[Ferris Bueller]

This reminds me of the "no dancing" policy from Footloose.

Wow, did I just say that? I feel old now.

[Trooper]

Rules and Policies like this make me just want to home school my kid. Instead of dealing with issues like sex and PDA, they just make rules and punish kids for harmless acts of affection/friendship. And if they are concerned about traffic jams in schools maybe instead of making rules to prohibit touching they should make more school to alleviation the over population.

Originally Posted by TheFenix

It's been my experience that "problems" with school discipline are drastically blown out of proportion.

Most the time its to late and they just throw eveybook they can find at kids. Instead of dealing with the issue at hand they wait to find a problem they can deal with and then lump every "bad" kid into that pile.

As long as you have friday night foot ball you will have high fives and hugs. Making all these rules to limit kids and them growing up really is gonna start to effect our society. But PTA boards and adminstrators would rather make stupid rules then actually teach these kids something they can use in the real world, no wonder places in the US have such low graduation rates and such high unemployment/uneducation rate.

[El_Gringo_Grande]

@Fenix. The no High Five was not a school policy, it was the policy of many of the coaches in the area. Most where old school and looked down upon those types of actions. They rejected the idea of celebration in any form while the game was still in progress.

What I am saying is many times the policies reflect the local culture and that is a good thing. While you may find small town culture absurd, those in the small towns do not. Of course they can take it to a point where it is harmful, but this is not a case of that.

And would you say that a private Christian school with the same policy deserves the same attention? I would hope not.

People outside the situation should generally just keep it to themselves as long as the school kids are not being harmed.

Have you ever dealt with kids? Many times it is easiest to lay down the harsh law to prevent any shenanigans. Prevent any "But what if..." crap and just say "no touching of any sort".

And finally, handshakes are a very easy skill to learn and can be taught in about 10 seconds. If the parent really wants their kids to partake in that old timy thing then nobody is stopping them.

I just don't get why some are so offended by this school doing their own thing. Isn't that the whole point of conservatives, that local schools/governments should be able to do what is best for their kids/people without outside interference?

[Trooper]

I think the problem is governments are to concerned with students actions and dont take into effect their own actions. They want these kids to pass meaningless tests so the teachers look good. Instead of teaching these kids a useful skill or even what they will need to make it in the "real world" they are limiting the social aspect of school. Kids go to school to learn yes, but they also need that social interaction so they can handle life on their own.

There is nothing wrong with small town issues, but if bigger towns/cities start to see this they will start to use the same policies and not look at the outcome of such an idea.

[Pokerface]

Looks like some people on the school board could use a hug. Or a slap across the face with the Wet Trout Of Reality.

[Acreo Aeneas]

You know what, we can now officially use the arguement that our kids will grow up socially depressed and unable to interact with other kids. And I had thought that argument would only stay as a counter to home schooling.

Before we know it, they'll knee-jerk another rule where kids can't look each other in the eye, because it might offend another culture or cause them to break out into random physical violence. We might as well keep everyone in their own little cacoon and not let anyone contact anyone else. Hell, why call us humans? We might as well convert everyone to machines. That way all these stupid half-baked rules don't need to be enforced.

No offense Lyramion.

[Ferris Bueller]

Guys, the problem isnt the policy, the problem is the way we raise kids these days. As many of you fathers and mothers will remember, when we grew up, we had a wide span of freedom. We swam in rivers, played in puddles, rolled in the mud, ate bugs and dirt, got scrapes and cuts and did all kinds of stuff that horrifies parents these days. Now we overmedicate our kids. The kid spends 5 minutes in the sandbox then wants to go climb a tree? RITALIN is the answer to that these days! When we grew up, that was just called being a kid and having an active mind. Kid gets sad? Get him on antidepressants. Kid plays in the mud? Ground him for a week and bathe him in purell to make sure all the bacteria are killed!

We're wrapping kids in bubblewrap to shield them from the "harmful" effects of the world and all we're doing is creating a generation of medically-dependent, fearful sissy-people. I see kids these days getting sick once a month because they spent so little time exposed to "bad" things that their immune systems never got tough. I see kids who are afraid of climbing trees because their parents instilled fear in them of getting hurt. Being a kid is about danger and excitement and getting hurt and a little sick. We're robbing our kids of that, and we wonder why we have all these kids who prefer to stay inside and play world of warcraft than go out with their friends.

We have to let kids be kids, otherwise it's a handicap they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives.

But insomuch as the topic is concerned, the rule is ridiculous. High fiving turning into a melee? Right. Cause throughout history, wars have been started over a high-five at least 10 times. It's true! And hugging, o0o0o0o0o...I bet the next thing those two will be doing is having wild crazy sex on the back of his huffy 5-speed. It's a downhill slide once you let kids touch each other. Touch is a fundamental of human contact. In sports it shows cameraderie amongst teammates. In relationships it's an icebreaker or a show of affection. Kids are super-impressionable, and teaching them that touching is wrong is a twofold problem:
First, it will teach some of them that touch is something bad that needs not happen, turning them into rude and standoffish people.
Second, the "rebels" will see this as a reason to engage in the activity more as a way of striking against the system, probably leading to earlier sexual experiences.

One of these days they'll invent interstellar travel and i'll be on the first boat out of here to go colonize someplace that doesnt have no-touching rules, where kids can scrape their knee without going to the emergency room, where dirt is something thats on the ground and not something that people are afraid to let their kids touch.

[jonan_]

Amen to that Ferris!!!

[Trooper]

Originally Posted by Ferris Bueller

Guys, the problem isnt the policy, the problem is the way we raise kids these days. As many of you fathers and mothers will remember, when we grew up, we had a wide span of freedom. We swam in rivers, played in puddles, rolled in the mud, ate bugs and dirt, got scrapes and cuts and did all kinds of stuff that horrifies parents these days. Now we overmedicate our kids. The kid spends 5 minutes in the sandbox then wants to go climb a tree? RITALIN is the answer to that these days! When we grew up, that was just called being a kid and having an active mind. Kid gets sad? Get him on antidepressants. Kid plays in the mud? Ground him for a week and bathe him in purell to make sure all the bacteria are killed!

We're wrapping kids in bubblewrap to shield them from the "harmful" effects of the world and all we're doing is creating a generation of medically-dependent, fearful sissy-people. I see kids these days getting sick once a month because they spent so little time exposed to "bad" things that their immune systems never got tough. I see kids who are afraid of climbing trees because their parents instilled fear in them of getting hurt. Being a kid is about danger and excitement and getting hurt and a little sick. We're robbing our kids of that, and we wonder why we have all these kids who prefer to stay inside and play world of warcraft than go out with their friends.

We have to let kids be kids, otherwise it's a handicap they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives.

I couldnt agree with you more. Right now im faceing that with my wife. She is a OB nurse and wants to raise our son by the book. We cant do anything that isnt suggested by the doctor or against how she learnd it in school. Good thing she works nights and sleeps during the day. Speaking of which i should probably go put some cloths on him before she wakes up...hehe

More and more parents want the schools to raise their kids and dont care what goes on during the school hours. I plan on haveing my hand in everything that goes on at my sons school, i know how teachers like to be power hungery and instead of teaching they punish.

And i like pokers responce to this issue, im sure they would make a rule against wet trout soon after you did it. "no fish in school"