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the kids do recognize the difference between a high five and lap dances...Va. School's No-Contact Rule Is a Touchy Subject
By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 18, 2007; B01
Fairfax County middle school student Hal Beaulieu hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office.
Among his crimes: hugging.
All touching -- not only fighting or inappropriate touching -- is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna. Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: "NO PHYSICAL CONTACT!!!!!"
School officials say the rule helps keep crowded hallways and lunchrooms safe and orderly, and ensures that all students are comfortable. But Hal, 13, and his parents think the school's hands-off approach goes too far, and they are lobbying for a change.
"I think hugging is a good thing," said Hal, a seventh-grader, a few days before the end of the school year. "I put my arm around her. It was like for 15 seconds. I didn't think it would be a big deal."
A Fairfax schools spokesman said there is no countywide ban like the one at Kilmer, but many middle schools and some elementary schools have similar "keep your hands to yourself" rules. Officials in Arlington, Loudoun and Prince George's counties said schools in those systems prohibit inappropriate touching and disruptive behavior but don't forbid all contact.
Deborah Hernandez, Kilmer's principal, said the rule makes sense in a school that was built for 850 students but houses 1,100. She said that students should have their personal space protected and that many lack the maturity to understand what is acceptable or welcome.
"You get into shades of gray," Hernandez said. "The kids say, 'If he can high-five, then I can do this.' "
...
School Gives 6th-Grade Graffiti Artist Same Punishment as Drug Users
Saturday, July 07, 2007
E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
KATY, Texas Writing "I love Alex" on a school gymnasium wall brought a 12-year-old the same punishment as if she had made terrorist threats.
The Katy Independent School District rated the message, written with a baby blue marker by sixth-grader Shelby Sendelbach, as a Level 4 infraction the same as for threats, drug possession and assault.
Only murder, gun possession, sexual assault and arson are considered more severe by the suburban Houston district.
For her punishment, Shelby was assigned to an alternative school from Aug. 27 through Dec. 21.
School district spokesman Steve Stanford said the district was just following a state law, saying it requires assignment to an alternative school for graffiti.
Her parents have appealed and a hearing is set for this month. Lisa and Stu Sendelbach said they don't condone what Shelby did but think the punishment is overly harsh.
"We are shocked that the school district rules as they are written make no distinction between what Shelby is accused of and what a gang member does with a can of black spray paint," Stu Sendelbach said.
from Midol to hugging to kindergarten 'weddings':
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701179_pf.html
the kids do recognize the difference between a high five and lap dances...
Its a slippery slope between a handshake and a hand..., er, well, you know.
from Midol to hugging to kindergarten 'weddings':
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701179_pf.html
the kids do recognize the difference between a high five and lap dances...
We had a few students at my high school who weren't allowed to graduate because of something said on MySpace. Elsewhere a year ago, I believe, some kid was expelled because he had pictures of him with his hunting rifles and stuff.
No, this happened in a different state. For all those who know me well, they know I spent my high school in Illinois.That's the Bay Area for ya. Which high school?
If one of your female classmates had been knocked up and "terminated the pregnancy," she'd have been able to post a picture of herself posing with her aborted fetus in a bottle and the school board would have presented her with a certificate of achievement at the graduation ceremony.
Zero Tolerance IS out of control and is a problem.
Can you speak up? I can't hear for the crackling noise from all the tinfoil
"Then there was the strawberry incident ....."
