Education

Hands Off

By Stacey Decker — June 20, 2007 1 min read
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Mister Teacher of Learn Me Good sounds off on a Virginia school’s strict no-touching policy, under which students can reportedly be sent to the principal’s office for hugging or high-fiving. Seems a bit excessive, says Mister Teacher:

Now if said hugging went on for 15 minutes and involved hands in suspicious areas, I could see the merits in this policy. And OK, so you don't want to promote sexual promiscuity amongst middle schoolers, thus the no handholding rules, but high-fiving??? Are you kidding me?…

He offers a nuanced solution:

Hey "school officials" (if that IS your real name), how about suspending kids who fight, who give noticeable and recognizable gang sign handshakes, and who go around lecherously hugging all the girls, ala Georgie Peorgie!
In other words, don't ban all physical contact—just ban the improper physical contact! That way people won't be accusing you of being knee-jerks!

A version of this news article first appeared in the Blogboard blog.