Ridiculous

F1nut

A playground incident between two students prompted the East Shore Middle School in Milford, CT, to ban all touching on school grounds, including hugging.

Principal Catherine Williams sent a letter home to parents stating that any touching at school, including "hugging" and "horseplay," could result in disciplinary action ranging from parent conferences to suspension or even expulsion. The extreme and "overly broad" response came after a kick to the groin sent a boy to the emergency room in March. Some parents approve of the ban, but others say kids shouldn't be prevented from enjoying high-fives and handshakes with their pals.

Lenore Skenazy, whose "New York Sun" column about letting her 9-year-old son ride the New York City subway alone caused an uproar among parents last year, says that East Shore's response to the problem of schoolyard violence is a just another case of over-reacting to an isolated incident.

"It's as if your town reacted to a stabbing by saying that going outside was outlawed, instead of outlawing knives," says Skenazy. "It is this huge over-reaction to an unusual event. It is the same thing as this rash of fear over abductions, just because we hear about one abduction in Florida."

Skenazy is the author of Free Range Kids, a blog about the modern parent's drive to wrap their kids in cotton. The site was born after she was roundly criticized as the "worst mother in the world" for allowing her son a freedom she herself had as a child -- to find his own way home from school. She wrote about the school's no-touching policy and says she received a slew of responses, many of which detailed equally ridiculous school policies.

"I had one guy tell me that fourth-graders at his school can't play football anymore, because one kid tripped and broke his arm," Skenazy says. "The thing is, he wasn't even playing football when he broke his arm. He was doing a victory dance after he scored a touchdown, when he tripped over a tree root and fell. And therefore, the school outlawed football."

While it's easy to see the administrators' viewpoint -- this is, after all, a litigious society -- it is also an integral part of a culture that pats itself on the back for over-reacting to "one in a million incidents," she adds.

Siobhan Connally is a mother of two from Kinderhook, N.Y., who says zero-tolerance policies may be expedient, but they are essentially ineffective. Her daughter, Annabel, will enter kindergarten in the fall, and Connally fears that rules like these will undermine her child's self-confidence.

"School is going to be a very scary place for me when my daughter attends next year, but not because I fear for her safety. I fear for her confidence and her ability to solve problems without sweeping them under a carpet, something I think these blanket bans do," Connally says. "We don't want bad touch, so no touching at all is just throwing the baby out with the bath water. What next, we don't want bad thoughts, so no thinking?"

Connally adds that we don't do our kids any favors when we fail to teach them how to "hash out" run-of-the-mill conflicts. "I think the effect in the long term has been and will continue to be reinforcing the sense of fear and hopelessness, and will keep people from actually learning how to tell the difference between real and perceived danger."

Skenazy agrees, and says that fear-mongering and the "assumption that everything is bad" can only lead to a generation of kids who are afraid of their own shadows. "That is just so upsetting," she says.

It's time for the parents in this country to stand up and tell these idiot educators enough of this PC bullsh!t.

Airplay355

Maybe the school is nervous about being sued for kids getting hurt?

It's still a big steamy load of BS.

TNRabbit

How bizarre; I WORK with Siobhan Connally!

bruss

its no wonder were seeing these kind of kids come out of our school systems. WTF

jdhdiggs

Just don't let your child go to public school, problem solved!

(But yes, this is BS)

Airplay355

If your kid doesn't go to public school you have to pay for private school AND pay school taxes for the public school.

tonyb

Agree with Jess....total B.S. Educators need to get their head out of their arse,AND parents need to step up to the plate.School districts have you by the nuts,you pay no matter what.The way we finance public schools need to change,but good luck on that one,giveing some power back to the taxpayer isn't high on the priority list.

ben62670

jdhdiggs wrote: »

Just don't let your child go to public school, problem solved!

(But yes, this is BS)

I am getting closer and closer to home schooling.

agfrost

Please, don't blame "educators," blame lawyers, administrators, and psychotic parents that drive the lawyers and administrators to put such nonsensical policies into place. I'm a teacher and I see as clearly as you how nutty this is.

Refer to the "Death of Common Sense" thread from a ways back. We've come to a point where risk avoidance trumps all in the minds of many policy makers around the schools. Therefore, no touching, no football, and students who go to authorities to explain that they accidentally brought a pocketknife to school are expelled for their honesty.

We're living in a different world, that's for damn sure.

Jay

obieone

Common sense is an oxy-MORON! And so is that principal!

treitz3

Hmmm, in one fell swoop, this lady just made football, soccer, wrestling, cheer leading, most activities in gym class and helping an injured student back up on his/her feet punishable. Up to and including expulsion? Forget the kid who needs CPR, expulsion isn't worth it, let him die. :eek:

Way to go dingbat. :rolleyes:

steveinaz

Where do people like this come from? It blows my mind. More importantly, how do morons like this make these things happen?

(Steve dons flame suit)
In the spirit of being non-PC, is it just me or does it seem to be almost always women in these positions making these policies....hey I just said out loud what you were thinkin.

Our local command is 90% women in the key (high ranking) positions right now, and it is a friggin mess---like never before. Even my wife Bev said that "we need more men" in these positions. I'm sorry, but it is the truth. Knee-jerk reactions, band-aid fixes, nothing thought thru, micro-managing until the point of gridlock,---just fix it now kind of crap. Our Commanding General right now (a 3 star---you guessed it, a Woman) actually has tantrums in meetings at times....huh???!!!!

ryanjoachim

I think most schools are doing just fine with walking the line between "Anal-retentive" rules and letting kids be kids.

I work at a middle school (6-8), and we see our fair share of PDA/inappropriate clothing/disrespect/violence. Every school does. It's part of growing up to be confronted with these things, and learn how to handle them properly.

If these kids aren't allowed to touch at ALL in school, what's going to happen when they get into High school or beyond? They're going to be carrying around this stigma that "touching is bad!", forcing them into the niche of "social outcast" or something like that.

Besides, I seriously doubt the kid got kicked in the nuts BECAUSE touching was allowed. So why would touching NOT being allowed stop someone else from recieving a nut-shot?

comfortablycurt

This is ridiculous. If they honestly think this is going to work, they really need a reality check. Kids typically don't follow the rules 100%, if they think that no more kids will ever get kicked in the nuts because of this new rule, they're stupid. Kids get into fights, that's a fact. Nothings ever going to change that. Most younger kids don't really solve their problems by talking them out, that's a skill you develop as you mature. A lot of kids solve their problems physically, i.e. kicking them in the stones.

Kids give each other high fives, they give each other punches sometimes, this isn't always out of anger though, sometimes it's just good natured ribbing.

Like treitz said, what about when another kid falls down and hurts himself? It's now against the rules for another kid to help him get back up? Are all sports banned now?

It seems like parents anymore want their kids to be in an environment where they're never exposed to anything even remotely violent, never think about sex and never have to deal with anything even remotely complicated. This is growing up...these are things that help kids learn lessons about life. Taking this away isn't really helping at all, it's actually making things worse for them. Like others have said, what happens when these kids get to high school? What happens when they leave school and "touching is bad"?

People are way to politically correct...it's irritating.:rolleyes:

SolidSqual

What are they going to do when the kids all get fatter from lack of exercise, and start showing signs of social disorders?

This rule will also take the "I'm not touching you" game to a whole other level.

On the other hand, this may just be one step closer to everyone walking around in padded latex.

brettw22

I don't see how this is a "PC" issue.......do y'all just use this term anytime someone does something that some group doesn't like for some reason?

The policy is stupid.........but I don't see how the policy is appeasing any "PC" group.........

phipiper10

The incident and solution originally described is moronic.
Whenever I see an issue with a kid I say, "Some people's children".

steveinaz

Brett
Being PC is akin to covering your ****; they are one in the same...that's how the term applies here. Instead of dealing with sitautions on a case-by-case basis, these morons do the blanket policy crap---because it's easier, and when you're incompetent, easier is better.

Zero tolerance = zero thinking process. It's not tough love, it's inability to demonstrate any leadership, common sense, or insightful thinking.

cfrizz

Agreed Brett. Nothing to do with PC & everything to do with some moron who has had too much education & has thrown out her common sense!:rolleyes: Providing she had any in the first place.

Then again if said Principal didn't have to worry about some other moron suing the district because Johnny tripped over his own feet & blamed someone else at school, maybe these type of stupid things wouldn't happen.

brettw22 wrote: »

I don't see how this is a "PC" issue.......do y'all just use this term anytime someone does something that some group doesn't like for some reason?

The policy is stupid.........but I don't see how the policy is appeasing any "PC" group.........

bobman1235

I think PC has gone beyond its original definition, and is used now to indicate any policy that tries to placate the overreaction of people. It's not literally a policy protecting a "group" like the definition of political correctness but it's still an overreaching and wildly exaggerated policy that's trying to solve a small problem in a crazy way.

Systems

I think that the death of Common Sense thread is applicable to this Principals foolish no touching policy.

ryanjoachim

Anyone hear about the vice principal that was charged with child pornography and spent $150,000 to clear his name?

In the course of investigating an inappropriate picture on a student's cell phone, he was charged with possesion of child **** because of that picture.
Just goes to show how pathetic and panic-prone the "authority" figures have become.

Face

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/politically%20correct

politically correct
 
–noun
marked by or adhering to a typically progressive orthodoxy on issues involving esp. race, gender, sexual affinity, or ecology. Abbreviation: PC, P.C.


politically correct
adj. Abbr. PC

1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
2. Being or perceived as being overconcerned with such change, often to the exclusion of other matters.

cfrizz

Then PC still doesn't fit. She's not trying to change ALL schools policies, just her little neck of the woods. And the change has nothing to do with school curiculum.

Or in other words....SHE'S A MORON!

ryanjoachim

Ok...just so you guys know, the Principal CAN'T make these kind of policy changes BY HER/HIMSELF!

There's a whole process that has to be taken in order for it to happen. While she is idiotic for thinking of the change, it's not all on her shoulders.

steveinaz

People don't have any balls anymore. We're turning our children into social morons. No wonder these poor kids are so insecure. It's neglect, plain and simple.

In the words of Joe Clark: "discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm"

Greater words were never spoken. At the same time kids need structure and discipline (to establish security), they also need affection and the ability to sympathize.

ND13

We used to beat the **** out of each on the school playground and rarely did anyone get in very much trouble. These people are turning our kids into a bunch of pansies. Before too long, we won't even be able to beat France in a war.

cfrizz

Who was beating who Noel? Was it just kids horsing around or was it some school yard bully picking on someone smaller & quieter than them?

If it was the latter, I have a HUGE problem with that kind of behavior. I was subjected to it myself as a kid, and it is one of the reasons why I decided AS A KID that I certainly didn't want to have any kids.

And if I did, I would probably end up in jail for kicking his/her **** for being a bully or simply misbehaving in school.

Those bullying kids turn into bullying adults and continue to spread their evil around...most likely on internet forums where they are safe from getting their teeth kicked in!

ND13 wrote: »

We used to beat the **** out of each on the school playground and rarely did anyone get in very much trouble. These people are turning our kids into a bunch of pansies. Before too long, we won't even be able to beat France in a war.

ND13

It was football, basketball, war ball, smear the.....,etc.. and rarely the occasional fight would break out. NOT BULLYING!!! The bullies usually didn't last very long around us. They came and went with the wind. The girls were pretty tough, too. Maybe it's just a southern thing. Bullies are self-loathing, immature, little **** and prickettes. I to got bullied once.....once.

If anyone thinks I'm a bully, I'll PM you my addy if you think you can kick my teeth in.:)

ohskigod

sounds like you had some crappy experiences Cath, scary thing is, the girl on girl bullying is like 10 times worse now then it was in our day. can you imagine that?

ND13

ohskigod wrote: »

sounds like you had some crappy experiences Cath, scary thing is, the girl on girl bullying is like 10 times worse now then it was in our day. can you imagine that?

Tru dat