Welcome to the pond

Hugging Ban Sparks Dispute at Ore. School

Wow! This upsets me so much. A hug is completely harmless! If there's groping involved, then that IS inappropriate. But let's treat each case as it is. This is teaching kids that it's bad to show affection. I don't see any problem with hugging at any age as long as both parties want the hug. If more students hugged each other and were generally nicer to each other, there might be fewer instances of school shootings, not to mention bullying and other drama.

As far as schools being a place for learning, why can't social skills be a part of that learning? It certainly couldn't hurt to have an environment where appropriate affection is encouraged. Why must every second spent in school be about book learning? Schools are where most people, I'd think, learn about interacting with others both in and out of the classroom. I'd much rather see kids hugging each other than fighting with each other or worse.

I really hope the school district in Bend takes a look at this rule and really thinks about the message it sends and what it actually accomplishes.