Does Somebody Need a Hug?
I consider myself a touchy feely person. You know, the type who hugs friends upon
greeting them in the grocery store and pats total strangers on the arm as a form of
gratitude. As in, “thank you so much for showing me where the ladies room is,” pat-pat-
pat. I rub shoulders and feet when plopped on my lap, and willingly hug teenagers who
make their way into my home. I hug my kids and my husband every morning and every
night and more than once throughout the day.
I suppose I got this penchant for hugging from my mom, who can’t pass through a
room without retrieving a squeeze. My mom taught teenagers for some 40-odd years
and not a day went by that she didn’t dole out essential embraces in the hall.
Good thing she doesn’t work in Oak Park, Illinois.
If you find yourself in need of a hug, you won't get it in Oak Park. A middle school
principal there banned hugging among the school's 860 students anywhere inside the
building. She said students were forming "hug lines" that made them late for classes and
crowded the hallways.
"Hugging is really more appropriate for airports or for family reunions than passing
and seeing each other every few minutes in the halls," the principal said when she
announced the ban.
Another reason to institute the no-hugging policy was that some hugs could be too
long and too close, she said. “The goal is always to promote safe and orderly hallways
where everybody can get by, be safe, and be on time."
Sounds like a job for airport security. “Excuse me miss, you appear to be standing
too close to that young girl there. I’ll have to ask you to empty your pockets and come
with me.”
I may be a few decades removed from junior high but I recall that teachers have
always been pretty good at breaking off public displays of affection in the hallways. Used
to be it was left to their discretion as to what constituted too much – too much skin
showing, too much kissing, too much “hugging.” Maybe that’s our problem – teachers
aren’t being given the luxury of independent thought and the right to exercise their own
discretion; now they need a mandate to tell them how to intervene.
Believe it or not, the principal in Oak Park says the no hugging is part of an anti-
bullying and discipline campaign. Kids who aren’t receiving hugs in the hallways are
feeling left out. Some kids claim their space is being invaded by all the hugs. So much
for teaching tolerance. What’s next, banning grades because it makes some kids feel
uncomfortable that they aren’t getting As? Oh, wait, that’s already been done.
The no hugging policy is just wrong on so many levels.
Maybe all the kids should commit to hugging the principal once a day as a show of
solidarity. I don’t know if it would make a difference or not but she might find herself
surprised at how good it feels to be wrapped in a warm embrace. Just as long as she’s
not late for class.