Connecticut is a gorgeous state with numerous noteworthy attractions. However, if I lived in the Milford school district, I’d be the mother of an expelled student.
My extremely affectionate daughter would never be able to adhere to a new “no touching” policy that was recently implemented at East Shore Middle School.
The no touching, hugging, high-five slapping, love patting policy has sparked controversy beyond the schoolyard, and now the entire school district may get in on the ban.
And to think the “overly broad” response was the result of a couple of boys engaging in horseplay.
According to reports, the school’s principal was irate after a male student, who was roughhousing with another boy, inadvertently kicked him in the groin and sent him to the hospital.
Shortly after the incident principal Catherine Williams sent out a letter to parents stating that horseplay compromises safety and learning at school, and therefore would be banned outright.
“Physical contact is prohibited to keep all students safe in the learning environment,” Williams wrote.
Don’t mess with Williams. She means business. The last half of her letter stated in no uncertain terms:
“Potential consequences and disciplinary action may include parent conferences, detention, suspension and/or a request for expulsion from school.”
Needless to say, some parents feel as though the no touching policy (which includes hand shakes, bumping elbows in the hall, hugging, high-fives, daps, back taps, etc.) is a bit extreme.
“Now it’s almost as if it’s a sanitized school. Where you have to keep your distance from everybody? And that’s not what school is about,” one concerned father told local news reporters.
“What if they are out on the playground at recess, or in gym class?” another parent wondered. “You know, gym class is physical.”
Some critics of the new ban question its effectiveness. Others say that the principal’s response to the groin kick is a just another case of overreacting to an isolated incident.
What do you think?
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