Fairfax County middle school student Hal Beaulieu hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office.
Among his crimes: hugging.
All touching -- not only fighting or inappropriate touching -- is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna. Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: "NO PHYSICAL CONTACT!!!!!"
Monday, June 18, 2007
Public Schools Get Shomer
From SaraK, this is interesting...
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And when the cafeteria ladies/men give change they drop it on the counter instead of in the kids' hand.
ReplyDeleteI went to a Christian high school and we were allowed NO public displays of affection. You could be given detention for any/all of the following: hugging, hand holding, lap sitting, snuggling, "inappropriate touching," etc.
ReplyDeleteThis type of rule isn't new. Also: Northern Virginia is now the center of a great deal of gang activity (like MS-13) and there is some worry about gang handshakes handsignals in school.
This is ridiculous. Maybe because I keep imagining "Demolition Man" high-fives.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they just keep them in cages?
ReplyDeleteThey take it further than shomer negiah--even same-sex touching is forbidden.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I can see why they would make such a rule, but it does seem a little extreme.
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ReplyDeleteMy middle school had some sort of policy on gender relationships. Either it was only handholding or it might have even forbid that. Either way it was never enforced. The dress code was enforced though. My school was not known for not enforcing rules on the books and I still wonder why they never enforced this rule.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story. But no high 5's during PE. Must be hard to get into the game.
Somehow I don't think this is ridiculous... It's just so *cute!* Isn't school essentially like a workplace for miniature adults? So they are learning how not to sexually harass each other. This way they won't even have like cute mini-arayot. Kidding! Seriously though, touching=objectification. See negiah.org or whatever for more information.
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My mother works in a junoir high/high school and they have had a similar rule for years. It it not necessarily only a negiah issue, but it also tries to minimize physical fights. I think they look past high-5s in gym, but otherwise they are very strict about not touching...not only male-female, but everyone...what is one guy's nudge is another guy's punch.
ReplyDeleteThe beat goes on, the sissification of America's youth.
ReplyDeleteI wistfully remember the ways and days of old, when a friendly toss into the school pool was noted as nothing more than Thursday.
I think zero tolerance rules like this do more harm than good. Kids need to learn how to appropriately interact with the people around them. Rules that are extreme, like not allowing any touching regardless of gender or context, removes the opportunity for kids to learn good judgment when it comes to what is appropriate touching and what isn't. The rule doesn't prevent inappropriate touching, it just postpones it.
ReplyDeleteBased on the responses here, I'm with Fern. Zero-tolerance rules are almost always foolish, but there definitely seems to be a place for no touching. As always, common sense needs to prevail.
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