It's official...
January 15, 2002 3:54 PM   Subscribe

It's official... Kids at Paddock Elementary School love hugging!!
posted by KLAX (4 comments total)
 
Well, they're just lucky they don't attend a school where hugging is banned. (And yes, that is the same photo used to illlustrate both stories, three years apart.)
posted by jjg at 5:13 PM on January 15, 2002


Last April I compiled a list of hugging bans (I just realized that I sent it off on April 1 so some might have taken it as a joke). Here it is:


This is a first compilation of hugging/kissing bans in schools and universities. It's the result of a search in newspaper and magazine databases which is not yet complete. It includes cases from the US, Canada, and one incident from China. If anyone knows of other similar incidents, please let me know. One common keyword under which such incidents might be found is "Public Display of Affection" (PDA) rules.

These rules are not just there for fun, they are enforced. That's the reason they usually make it to the press: children complain about the rules after they are subjected to them. In some cases, kids and teens have organized protests and "hugathons", but the rules remain. Surely there are many other schools that have similar rules where nobody ever hears about it. Keep in mind that many US schools still have corporal punishment, so hugging bans shouldn't come as such a big surprise.

- - -

Pequot Lakes School, Minnesota: hugging ban [AP, Feb 27 2001]

Northwest High School, Fort Worth, Texas: banned "kissing, cuddling, or any other questionable displays of affection", rule at least 8 years old when first published [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oct 14 2000]

Euless Junior High, Texas: hugging ban [The Daily Camera, Sep 27 2000]

Gimli Middle School, Winnipeg (Man., Canada) and Halifax (N.S., Canada): hugging/kissing ban, contact games ban ("hands-off" policy)
[Chicago Tribune, Feb 20 2000, and Halifax Daily News, March 2, 2000]

Nicolas Junior High, Fullerton, California: banned hugging, kissing, back patting, "high fives" and all other public displays of affection [Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition, Feb 12 1998]

Millis School District, Massachusetts: banned hand holding, hugging or "other affectionate physical contact" [Boston Globe, Jan 21 1995]

Beijing University, China: banned hugging and kissing on Campus, US media portrayed it as very reactionary [Rocky Mountain News, Oct 18 1991]

Lamont High School, Ontario, Canada: hugging and kissing banned, example case: 17-y-o boy who kissed 16-y-o girlfriend at bus stop, girlfriend suspended for two days. [Windsor Star, Dec 27 1990]

- - -

Hugging and kissing is not popular. According to a "Public Agenda Report" from 1996, "69 percent of teachers and 56 percent of the public favor a ban on kissing and hugging on school property." [Washington Times, Feb 14 1996]

Similar bans are also applied in prisons. In fact, in one incident, even death row inmates were prevented from hugging or kissing their relatives. Apparently, many principals and teachers seem to think that schools should have similar rules as prisons.

Why hugging is necessary
posted by Eloquence at 5:38 PM on January 15, 2002


It's sick, absolutely fucking sick, that a school would ban hugging. And I'm appalled that there appears to be a majority favour towards such a ban.

My god, we're going to raise some terrifically fucked-up kids if they're never touched nor allowed to touch.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:10 PM on January 15, 2002


Compare pictures and video on this page to see the early effects of physical deprivation.
posted by Eloquence at 6:20 PM on January 15, 2002


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