Middle schooler gets detention for hugging.....

[CJR]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 1:51pm

MASCOUTAH, Ill. - Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter.

The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday.

One schools ban on PDA's

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:01pm

she's obviously a hussy and must be stopped!

[tazber]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:03pm

Today she's hugging in school, tomorrow she brings a gun. You must nip these delinquent children in the bud.

[madbrian]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:08pm

"You must nip these delinquent children in the bud."

Ouch.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:12pm

"District Superintendent Sam McGowen said that he thinks the penalty is fair and that administrators in the school east of St. Louis were following policy in the student handbook.
It states: “Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.”


I am speechless.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:13pm

Slut! Whore!! Witch!!! Tar and feather her and then make her wear a sackcloth for the rest of the year!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:14pm

The Lifetime movie will star Alison Pill.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:15pm

What state's Mascoutah in? I'd say ill.

I had no idea how subversive the "Hugs, not drugs" campaign was when I was in high school!

[tazber]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:16pm

I think it was probably the fact that she was fingering her friend too that had something to do with it.
you know kids and hormones...

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:17pm

How can a girl find her vagina power with these kind of rules??

[tazber]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:19pm

By watching Oprah Borstal. Duh!

[tazber]

Posted: 11/7/07 at 2:19pm

and not double posting

Updated On: 11/7/07 at 02:19 PM

[Icehouse Life]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 4:08pm

I saw the girls on the Today show with their mothers. What we're seeing is a continuation of converting kids into soulless automatons who are obedient and unthinking, myopicly assuming the kids will abuse. These administrators need to to get their heads out of their asses. They are a major reason why schools these days aren't winning hearts and minds of many in the young.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 4:38pm

obviously you all have not been paying attn to national news. Many districts have taken this measure to PROTECT the kids.
What constitues a hug and what constitutes sexual abuse is a razor-sharp line.
All it takes is one kid to scream something sexual and that distrit is sued.

While it may seem extreme, sadly the state of this country and lawsuits makes it all too necessary.

and as for this comment.

'These administrators need to to get their heads out of their asses. They are a major reason why schools these days aren't winning hearts and minds of many in the young.'

it shows what little you know about how school districts operate, and what can happen when one is sued.

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 4:52pm

I feel that there are far worse things schools should be concerned about.

I don't consider hugging sexual.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 5:02pm

you may not, but the school kid (and his/her parents) that do could sue the district.......and win, and that will hurt every student, and future ones.

[Cyndy]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 5:15pm

What you may get disciplined for doing at this school:

Main Entry: hug
Function: transitive verb
Pronunciation: 'h&g
Inflected Form(s): hugged ; hug·ging
Etymology: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hugga to soothe
1 : to press tightly especially in the arms
2 a : CONGRATULATE b : to hold fast : CHERISH

What you may try out for the first week of December at this school:

Main Entry: wres·tling
Function: noun
Pronunciation: 'res-li[ng], 'ras-; 're-s & l-i[ng], 'ra-
: a sport or contest in which two unarmed individuals struggle hand to hand with each attempting to subdue or unbalance the other

Something just strikes me as sad in that.

Updated On: 11/8/07 at 05:15 PM

[DG]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 6:07pm

What Elph says is sadly and grotesquely true.

I see this as a further example of society-in-general's descent into madness, not the educational system in particular.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 6:11pm

I went to a middle school like this. No PDA's whatsoever. Concern taken way too far and rules made for the sake of abusing authority.

Updated On: 11/8/07 at 06:11 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 6:11pm

exactly....and I don't like it, but it's at the point where school districts, and anybody has to protect themselves from lawsuits.

Trust me, when a district is sued and loses, it costs ALL citizens of that area (in taxes) not just the ones with kids in school.

sad state of the world

[kelzama]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 6:47pm

same as a kindergartner dressed for Halloween as a firefighter complete with plastic toy axe gets suspended for violating the Zero Tolerance No Weapons policy.

common sense? no. CYA? Yep.

[Icehouse Life]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 7:35pm

I'm sorry I failed to mentioned the specter of lawsuits when it comes to public schools, but I knew that was a fear (I thought it would be automatically understood). It's really sad. I know where you're coming from, Elphaba, with all due respect, but such action like that of that administration smacks of zero tolerance (zero thinking). I, and many other people here, aren't convinced that what we gain out of this weighs more than what we lose in situations like this. Surely none of us want sexual harassment or hallway congestion in schools, but we're turning kids into robots when such provisions are in place in the long run as a scoiety, disconnecting themselves from common humanity even further. Many of us just don't think hugging is a gateway to worse sexual action. Soemthing has to be done about protecting schools from lawsuits stemming from harmless activities, as opposed to worse situations that apparently arose from them.

For further reading:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/04/4313

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/8/07 at 7:38pm

Give her the chair I say.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 3:02am

the last thing when I was in middle school any of us wanted to do was hug each other....but then it was hard to hug when school was taught in a covered wagon.....