Hello!

18 Comments

HUGGING has been banned at one primary school.

Yes, you read that correctly!

The Herald Sun reports, St Patricks Primary School principal John Grant said “nothing in particular” had caused the ban on hugging at the Geelong West school.

“But in this current day and age we are really conscious about protecting kids and teaching them from a young age that you have to be cautious,” Mr Grant said.

He said he had spoken to teachers about his decision to ban hugging and then the teachers had spoken to classes, instructing the children on different methods of showing affection. He had not sent any correspondence home to parents but said there would now be a letter going home on Monday.

“There’s a range of methods including a high five or a particular knuckle handshake where they clunk knuckles as a simple way of saying ‘well done’,” Mr Grant said. “There are also verbal affirmations and acknowledgments.”

Children at the school have been enthusiastic huggers, he said, with hugs given out to teachers and other children.

“We have a lot of kids who walk up and hug each other and we’re trying to encourage all of us to respect personal space,” Mr Grant said. “It really comes back to not everyone is comfortable in being hugged.”

Mr Grant said teachers would be sensitive in the adoption of the new rule.

“It’s not as if they’d be punished if they were hugging each other in the yard,” Mr Grant said. “They’ll be simply asked to respect each other’s personal space.”

Too far? Share your comments below.

Image via Shutterstock

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • Ridiculous. what will they ban next. if only that banned mobile phones!

    Reply

  • At first this does seem harsh but I stopped my grade one daughter from hugging everyone she met at school and amazingly she stopped contracting nits (head lice). Up until then I was constantly treating her head for lice frustrated as to why we could not get rid of them for good, until I followed her to class one morning and watched exactly what she did and everyone she encountered on the walk into school she openly hugged which involved head to head contact. I explained all this to her and asked her to greet her friends with a high five instead and the nit problem believe it or not stopped.

    Reply

  • Wow what is next? Ban looking at eachother!?

    Reply

  • Children do naturally hug each other when they are little.

    Reply

  • I think it’s important to teach kids that they can say no to a hug, and that this should be respected. But banning hugging goes too far.

    Reply

  • What a sad state of affairs that people feel hugging needs to be banned to protect our children :( I hope it doesn’t become a regular thing

    Reply

  • Too far – hugging is something children should be comfortable with. Nothing wrong with hugging a friend. This will only create kids who have intimacy issues.

    Reply

  • Oh my! If my daughter was attending that school, I think I would take her out!

    Reply

  • Wow i think schools need to shift their focus back onto actually educating children on the things they need, maths, english etc and leave all of these stupid and controversial implementing of rules to the politicians. I want my kids to learn to read and write, who they hug they can decide for themselves

    Reply

  • Such a shame that a School feels the need to implement such a policy. Caring and respect and other basic rules of common courtesy should be well and truly enough. Such a policy must be confusing for some of the younger kids who need physical contact and this often includes a hug.

    Reply

  • This is ridiculous. A hug is an immediate way to bond and form friendships.

    Reply

  • This is sad . My toddler hugs other kids at creche. Her friends. She is a lovely caring girl

    Reply

  • Um, wow. Just wow.

    Reply

  • Kids hug. Instead of blanket banning it, shouldn’t they just discourage it or better yet, educate kids on respecting personal boundaries. A ban is so negative!

    Reply

  • This is defiantly to far! If someone doesn’t like being hugged they need to learn to use their words!

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join