Posted on 05/15/2005 9:14:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEND, Ore. - Public displays of affection are against the rules at Sky View Middle School in Bend, and 14-year-old Cazz Altomare found that out the hard way.
She got detention earlier this year after hugging her boyfriend in the hallway as he headed to lunch and she went to gym class.
Her mother, Leslee Swanson was infuriated by the punishment — in fact, when she went to pick her daughter up from detention, she gave her a good, hard hug.
"I'm trying to understand what's wrong with a hug," said Swanson, 42.
But administrators said such policies are standard-issue at middle schools across the country.
"Really, all we're trying to do is create an environment that's focused on learning, and learning proper manners is part of that," said Dave Haack, the principal of Cascade Middle School, also in Bend. "This is not us being the romance police."
Students only end up with detention after repeated warnings, he said.
Outside Pilot Butte Middle School on a recent lunch break, two seventh-grade girls said they disagreed with the school's policies.
"I think we should be able to hold hands or hug at least," Annie Wilson, 12, told The Bulletin in Bend. "Because it's not doing anything bad."
Others are more in favor of the rule, like Christina Barackman, 13, also a Pilot Butte seventh-grader.
"I think they're nice to keep boundaries for kids," she said.
Schools need to define and actively teach what they do want to see in student behavior, said Rob Horner, a University of Oregon professor who works with schools across the nation on "building social culture that supports effective learning."
"To say 'no hugging' really blows it," Horner said. "That's exactly the sort of trap that, as soon as you say that, what is the first thing everyone is going to want to do?"
At home after school on a recent afternoon, Cazz, the Sky View student, described the no-hug rule as "dumb."
"Hugging is like a sign of affection," she said.
Her mother has told her that if she likes Sky View and wants to stay at the school, she'll have to abide by the rules.
But Swanson, the mother, said she wonders if a hugging ban would fly in a more metropolitan place.
For her, this is a politically charged issue.
"The more people blindly accept these fundamental rights being taken away from them, the easier it becomes for them to be taken away," Swanson said.
"Really, all we're trying to do is create an environment that's focused on learning, and learning proper manners is part of that," said Dave Haack, the principal of Cascade Middle School, also in Bend. "This is not us being the romance police."
----
such policies are standard-issue?
Well, if one sees how some of 'em "hug" and where the hands go during the hug......
If non-heteros did it, the school would applaud/celebrate it.
We need to get rid of public schools, bad.
My, my. Schools teach sex education and then won't let the students try it out. How rude. Maybe they should dis-allow both.
I'm glad such a policy is in place. Imagine all the things that might end up happening if two teenagers were allowed to hold hands while walking to school nurse's office to pick up their free condoms.
And in a government run school no less. What's this world coming to.
They're always bitching about not having the resources to teach the basics, yet they have time for this crap.
Beware "zero-tolerance". Hate it, fear it, destroy it.
PC is turning this country into a repressive socialistic and aetheistic regime.
It's no wonder kids leave school thinking that rules are made to be broken. They have parents who keep telling them that the rules aren't for them. These parents need to get a life.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Oh how they crave for the Taliban. Come hither women, don ye Burqa.
Of all the trash in schools, they waste time on hugs. How very lame. Time to ban Valentines day card giving next - some of those WWF variety pack cards are *racy*.
Zero tolerance: because the world is black and white, and thinking is hard anyway.
Are friendly hugs banned as well? I know that when my girlfriends and I see each other we often hug, but it is in a sisterly way. I completely agree with any kissing ban, I saw two lesbian's making out at my high-school once, and it was extremely disturbing.
Wouldn't it be nice if parents actually took their kids to school with them after they were disciplined, and supported the schools side of things. Even if they disagree with the policy, just support the school, then talk things over with the principal on the sly.
such policies are standard-issue?
I see, sell drugs in the parking lot, but don't dare get caught hugging. I could think of a few hundred other things that would be a higher priority to ban.
Students that age have absolutely no business "hugging" someone of the opposite sex. Courtship is the proper dating option and these students are too young to be involved in Courtship, since it should only be practiced as a precursor to possible marriage.
Others are more in favor of the rule, like Christina Barackman, 13, also a Pilot Butte seventh-grader. "I think they're nice to keep boundaries for kids," she said.
Interesting that a 13 year old can identify the reasoning behind the rule when the 42 year old cannot. The objection to this rule is just a further example of the breakdown of the distinctions between public and private behavior, which the left has promoted---the death of civility. I am a young woman, but when out and about these days, I am often taken aback by the public behavior of teenagers. They're simply not taught to have a public presence for the benefit of other people. There are many exceptions, of course, but for the most part it seems they have been encouraged to be selfish and self-centered individuals with little concept of decency, much less community.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.