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Schools To Put Time Limits On Hugs
An increasing number of US schools are using time limits to battle the latest threat to our children, the epidemic of teenage hugging. Gabrielle Brown, a freshman at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, says that this perilous form of physical intimacy, which involves closing or holding the arms around another person or group of persons, has become so popular that students easily slip into its dark embrace. Brown says, "If somebody were to not hug someone, to never hug anybody, people might be just a little wary of them and think they are weird or peculiar." Noreen Hajinlian, principal of George G. White School adds, "Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory." For her sake, I hope Noreen will be spared the horror of learning what usually happens on prom night.
When hugging is outlawed, only outlaws will hug.
"Make cyberlove, not cyberwar!" -Khaed(544779)
Fear and hate are (the new) normal. Everything that is good is bad.
The positive expectation of life is that it is temporary.
These 100+ person group hugs that clog high school corridors are really just a form of (passive aggressive) rebellion. All teenagers do it in some fashion, and every generation has a favorite rebellion. This generation's favorite rebellion seems to be hugging.
Schools really start to take notice when the hugging sessions make even the non-participants late for classes because nobody can get through the tangle to get to their lockers.
If I were in charge, I'd sentence all the participants to "detention" as follows: (1) everyone must do 10 pushups and then run a lap around the track. Repeat if anyone fails to complete the lap in 2.5 minutes. Immediately afterwards, (2) everyone must hug for 30 minutes. Then (3) repeat steps 1 and 2 until several hours have passed -- you'd be amazed what a little stank can do to the desire to hug someone. ;)
The OP is sensationalized, but he brings up a good point.
Yes, I agree that moderation is needed, but sometimes people just need a hug. Take, for example, the needs of anyone who has had a really bad day. Why would you have a limit to what you can share with others? We're -humans-. Most of us don't run off a clock (despite doing so most of our adult lives).
If my husband, or for argument's sake, a boyfriend or friend said to me: "you have half an hour" without a good reason, I'd be out of there sooner than that, whether my issue was resolved or not! Obviously, I prefer relationships and friendships that actually include people caring, not just sharing.
Making rules like this (even on a single facility level) makes a social stigma. Are you prepared to deal with situations where people snap because of the remoteness of their emotional contact? I'm guessing "no". Are you setting yourself up to be the "bad guy" who unwittingly hurts someone in need? Likely so.
I'm an advocate of treating kids like they're grown-ups in training. Time limits and such are the things of childhood; and while they're teaching tools, they're not rules to live the rest of your life by. If you want moderation, teach it; it's a good thing. Use ideas and philosophies that make sense. A 12-year-old is able to understand more than you think, and it's relatively simple to understand "hug them until they're not crying". It seems to be a good middle ground.
Oh, and my high school sweetheart was the product of me simply being there for him. Those are happy memories, and I wouldn't ever want trade those memories in for any idea that could use some perspective, no matter how "deeply thought out" it is.
There are no perfect answers, only the right questions. More questions at http://foresightandhindsight.blogspot.com/
Now all they have to do is put 3 seashells in the toilets, set automated swearing fines up and set Wesley Snipes loose...
Given the choise between Hitler and RIAA/MPAA I'd go for the first one - at least he knew when to shoot himself.
What is the more dangerous : a person with a weapon in a college ? a person giving a hug to another in a college ? a person shooting with a weapon in a college ? a person kissing another in a college ? a person killing other for "fun" with a weapon ? a person discovering sex for "fun" with other youg people of its age ?
Name it like you want, but at the end the question is violence against sexuality so to be straight : War vs Sex !
And the very core of the issue : War = cool, Sex = bad.
I am not one of those hippies, but sometime I wonder how we have arrived at this point. Hey people, you know we are not yet in gattaca, and the vast majority of you have been made thru sex, and yes there is a high probability that this includes hugs ;-)
In hugs, you can trust.
First they outlaw hugs... And I TOTALLY understand why! It's just a gateway to other encounters, like the pat-on-the-back for congratulations, or the evils of holding-hands... what next though? Where will it end? Pretty soon it'll not be safe for a teacher to have sex with her students!
(And am I the only one who remembers their female high school teachers as being a group of 40-90 year old crusty women, and never the hotties who seem to be out in droves now?)
Come on now, what could possible be wrong with hugs? Humans need physical contact, and too many people don't get any at all (not an innuendo for sex, just no physical contact. Barely a handshake).
I read the article, saw no actual reason to restrict it. And I can't think of one. Other than a deadly, infectious disease, but then they shouldn't be at school in the first place. In fact, for almost everything else, it's good for them to spread some bacteria and build up their immune systems.
We are all God's parents.
Sorry, that is all i have too say. I prefer young people hugging each other and not feeling lonely instead of doing stupid things because they feel lonely. Whom you hug and where is a highly personal thing and i dint think that it is the task of the school to regulate it.
"Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory." I'd say it's just the opposite: the dangerous thing is equating all touching and physical contact to sex.
Usage: km/h for speed (kilometers per hour); kph for very slow impulses (kilopond hours).
Friends hug each other. This is a very normal thing to do. In many countries hugging is very common. However, North Germans, the British, and US-Schools are sooooooooooooooo "protestantic" that they do not share hugs. It is just a too good feeling. And life should be filled with misery and the collection of money, which is quite the same.