School Head Bans Hugs and Handshakes

Kilmer Middle School in Vienna, Virginia, is by no means in a remote corner of the country. Close to the CIA headquarters at Langley, it is just a short drive from Washington DC. But headteacher Deborah Hernandez was accused of being out of touch, literally and scholastically, after banning physical contact between her 1,100 pupils.

Hugs, cuddles and handshakes are especially taboo.

Ms Hernandez's no-holds-allowed prohibition came to light after 13-year-old Hal Beaulieu slipped his arm round his girlfriend's shoulder during a break. She did not object, but a sharp-eyed school security officer caught Hal in the act. He was arraigned in the school office charged with two misdemeanors.

Hal accepted a reprimand but remains defiant: hugs are not a crime, he says. "I think hugging is a good thing," he told the Washington Post. "I put my arm around her ... I didn't think it would be a big deal."

Hal's parents, Donna and Henri, agree. They have written to the Fairfax County School Board. Children should not get the idea that bodies, and physical contact between them, were bad, they said.

Ms Hernandez is unmoved. She said the ban reflected the children's need to maintain "personal space" and the school's need to maintain order.

The ban included handshakes, hand-holding, high-fives and back-patting, she said. Strokes, squeezes and tickles were beyond the pale. Tactility could not be treated relatively, she suggested, or else "you get into shades of grey".

Exhibiting a flicker of flexibility, Ms Hernandez said teachers could always use their discretion.