No hugging!

The New York Times reports on a supposed trend of hugging among high school students. A thin story, but it's always amusing to read the cameo appearances by administrators determined to produce another generation of fearful, sexually repressed Americans:

Comforting as the hug may be, principals across the country have clamped down. “Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory,” said Noreen Hajinlian, the principal of George G. White School, a junior high school in Hillsdale, N.J., who banned hugging two years ago. “It was needless hugging — they are in the hallways before they go to class. It wasn’t a greeting. It was happening all day.”

Schools that have limited hugging invoked longstanding rules against public displays of affection, meant to maintain an atmosphere of academic seriousness and prevent unwanted touching, or even groping. 

Comments

[Chris VanHaight]

This story highlights one of my person pet peeves about the media. One principal in one school overreacts and the media portrays it as a trend of national importance. Is there not enough real news out there that such puff pieces need to be filler? I suppose this is another example of the fact that media outlets are just businesses like any other. Famine in Africa or corruption in Russia are boring, so let's have a story to which everyone can "relate." (Oops, I hope the use of quotes was appropriate!)