Schools Ban Hugging

The principal says the rampant hugging is creating bottle necks in the hallway and making kids late for class.

Furthermore she says although hugs are supposed to be handshakes from the heart some times they don't seem so innocent. "Too long, too close, and usually between boys and girls," Sharts said. ... "Hugging is really more appropriate for airports or for family reunions than passing and seeing each other every few minutes in the halls."

When teachers started enforcing the new policy last month all hallways and classrooms in the 860-student school became hug-free zones.

Is there a difference between good touching and bad touching? Some schools say no and have gone as far as to ban every form of physical contact imaginable.

For example, Kilmer Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia, recently banned all forms of touching - including high-fives.

'You get into shades of gray,' Kilmer Principal Deborah Hernandez told the Associated Press earlier this year. 'The kids say, 'If he can high-five, then I can do this.' '

It may sound extreme, but Kilmer isn't the only school with a no-touching policy. Fossil Hill Middle School in Fort Worth, Texas, just made the decision to ban hugs and hand-holding on school grounds, and similar policies were just initiated at schools in Iowa, Florida, and even England.