School Bans Hugging

[The Straight Story]

School Bans Hugging

A junior high school in Iowa City has banned hugging on campus, according to a Local 6 News report.

School officials at Southeast Junior High School banned the popular act of affection because girls would hug in groups and stop the flow of traffic during passing periods.

Principal Deb Wretman said they have now instituted a strict hands-off or handshake policy at the Iowa City school. She said it's safe and efficient.

"The reason that we have the hands-off handshakes is really a, 'Lets move through the halls during passing time, do it safely and efficiently,'" Wretman said.

But not everyone is happy about the change.

http://www.local6.com/spotlight/10593109/detail.html

[rockymountaindem]

1. Good.

I remember when I was in middle school and high school that people would hug all the time, in large groups, and yes... jam up the halls. Girls would also carry one another on their backs, causing them to stagger all over the place, or -get this- walk arm in arm in groups of up to seven down the hallway, acting like a human bulldozer.

Now all they have to do is ban making out in doorways and hanging around at the top of the staircase for no reason and they'll be all set.

[slowry]

10. Happy holidays...

... Mr. Grinch!

[rockymountaindem]

11. Yeah, well

you try getting to class while avoiding waves of girls with linked arms and navigating around group hugs. You've got 5 minutes to go to your locker, use the bathroom etc. *and* get to class. It's enough to make anybody grumpy.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. My suggestion to solve all school problems

Encase each child in an acrylic sphere. Then we won't have to worry about ANYTHING!


Oh yeah, I almost forgot: :eyes:

[wundermaus]

3. T'is time to sign a petition...

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person...

Music by Sick Puppies. (Visit http://sickpuppies.net or http://myspace.com/sickpuppies for the music)
------------------------------ -------------------

PS. The response to this video has been nothing short of overwhelming and touching. Hugs to every single one of you who messaged. There has been thousands of emails from all over the world by people seeking to participate in the Free Hugs campaign and asking for permission. You do not need permission. This is the peoples movement, this is *your* movement. With nothing but your bare hands you can make THE difference.

Imagine all the people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

[IndyOp]

7. Thank You for the Juan Mann video --

I had a student who came and interviewed me a week ago about what I thought about the "Free Hugs" campaign and I hadn't seen the video - it is wonderful!

Even better are the videos from around the world -- the Hugs campaign is spreading!

http://www.freehugscampaign.org/

[baby_mouse]

4. This is the 4th thread I've clicked on today that has an outrageous title

... only to discover that the subject's more complicated than it looks.

Will somebody PLEASE post something I can shout at????

[LWolf]

5. lol

Everyone who wants on-campus "hugging" should be required to be on duty all day every school day at their local jr. high or middle school. Many schools and districts have a strict "No PDA" policy. PDA = Public Display of Affection. It sure simplifies supervising them when you have one adult for every several hundred kids. :shrug:

[happyslug]

6. I attend Two High Schools in my High School Days

The first was a 1960 era School and the hallways were always jammed, the Second had been build in 1912 and had extra wide hallways, a least 12 feet in width. even with lockers along the side of the Halls, people moved easily DO TO THE WIDTH OF THE HALLS (Please note I never measured the hallways widths, when I entered my second high school the much greater width caught my attendance AND as I switched between classes I noticed the greater ease of movement do to the much wider hallways, they were at least 25% wider than the hallways in my first high school, if not 50% wider). My sister went to a High School built in the 1970s, it had even narrower hallways for they put the lockers in a "Locker Room" (Which you could not get into except during one period before lunch). Now my two high-schools has lockers along the hallways, the first, the 1960 era high suburban high school had two types of inner class period a three minute when you were NOT suppose to get into your local and a four minute when you could. My 1912 High School permitted you to get into your locker at any time. The reason, the 1912 High School had halls wide enough to handle the traffic, while the 1960 era high did NOT.

Why the movement to Smaller Hallways from 1912 till today? First Hallways are viewed as "Dead" Space by most architects and administrators. You can not use them as class rooms, you can not use them Gyms, all they exist for is for people to walk from one room to another. Thus the movement to narrower and narrower hallways. A side factor is most high Schools are steel re-enforced structures, and the narrow you make the halls the narrower you can make the school itself and thus save cost of construction.

You also had a switch, prior to about WWII, mot schools were designed by people who were also designing large buildings that had a lot of people moving around all at the same time (The then existing large Downtown Department Stores, Factories etc). After WWII most design went into office design, with few people using the hallways at any one time. People would stay in their office all day and when they moved it was rarely all at once. Thus narrower hallways made sense (and existed in most apartments building prior to WWII as while as Office buildings of the time period).

Another factor is the riots of the 1960s. Most high schools riots start in Study Halls (or at least the ones in my high school did). Another are of potential riots was when people meet each other in the hallways, confrontation can lead to a riot. Smaller hallways also meat smaller groups an actually get involved in any group fight.

Against the above is the factor that the wider the hallways the easier it is for people to get around groups of people who stop to talk or otherwise meet in the hallway. Sometime after WWII it was decided that Schools should have narrower hallways then in the past, to be more like Office buildings, but this ignores the fact that high schools release ALL of their Students into these Hall ways all at once and the hallways were NOT design to take such traffic. The hallways were design for no one talking to anyone else, interacting with any one else etc. People do NOT operate that way, but the Schools made that assumption for it meant hallways could be narrower and thus the overall schools cheaper to build.

Look at your local mall, the middle generally has two sets of 8 foot walkways (Total 16 feet). On top of this you generally have openings in the second floor to look down on the first floor (and the second floor has little kiosks below the openings). In simple terms you have 32 to 50 feet to move around in. Even this is narrow if traffic is to high (such as the Christmas Season). The stores themselves are often packed but Target, considered one of the better retailers, tend to have wide hallways (often as wide as in most modern High Schools). Target, like all retailers, also permit people to flow through the areas when items are being sold, thus providing even more area for people to walk through.

My point is the problem is NOT high schools "Hugging" but schools being designed without the Human need to socialized as we walk by each other. My 1912 high school was design around this human need, but most schools built since WWI have not. The problem is the design of the School and the need when a new School is being talked about in your school district that you attend and demand wider hallways so your children can interact like human beings not walk by each other like robots.

[IndyOp]

8. Nice observation HS...

The cheaper buildings dehumanize students. I think your comparison to public shopping malls is a good one - malls make through ways very wide indeed so people can socialize and still move freely.

Our public spaces have a big impact on the way we do (or do not) interact.

:hi:

[Maestro]

9. I'm an assistant principal in a low income elementary school.

The one thing of which these kids need are hugs! Would never be banned in my school.