Principal bans (out of control) hugging at West Sylvan, SW Portland middle school

[The Straight Story]

Principal bans hugging at West Sylvan, SW Portland middle school


Here's a local SW Portland news tidbit that's making headlines under "News of the Weird" across the nation. Allison Couch, principal at West Sylvan Middle School for the past 7 years, has banned students from hugging. The ban happened in February at the school, situated on the west slope of Portland's West Hills, has long been known for its academic excellence. Couch concluded her interview with the Oregonian in the article below looking for ideas on what can be done as a workable solution for when the hugging ban is lifted, so here's your chance as a parent to weigh in.

Oregonian reporter Allan Brettman posted the story on Oregonlive.com March 18 and the comment boards are lighting up with various sides of the hugging issue. Brettman's article says:

"The hugs were out of control at West Sylvan Middle School. Students could not pass each other in the hallway without a hug, the principal said. The girls were hugging one another all the time. Kids were late to class because of the hugs. Classes would end, middle schoolers would eye a classmate at the other end of the hallway, "they'd scream, run down the hallway and jump in each other's arms," Principal Allison Couch said. It was, Couch said, a virus of hugs. So the principal banned hugs on the school campus in late February.

The campus of nearly 600 seventh- and eighth-graders joined a growing list of schools nationwide that have halted hugs as well as other behaviors deemed detrimental to teaching and learning. Couch said she was prompted to act in part because of a school bus incident that drew police. Though she would not describe what happened, she said no students had been harmed. Also, it appeared to her that some students were hugging others who did not want the sign of affection...(Couch) treated the hugging in schools like a computer with a virus.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20144-SW-Portland-Parenting-Examiner~y2010m3d19-Principal-bans-hugging-at-West-Sylvan-SW-Portland-middle-school