No touching allowed…ever
There are teachers, schools, and school districts out there that give all of us in the field of education a black eye. This post is about one of those schools.
Kilmer Middle School in Virginia has a no touching policy. By no touching I don't just mean no hitting, pushing, or groping, I mean no touching…at all.
Want to celebrate the school team's victory over your rival? Better not give your classmate a high five or you'll end up in the office. Want to hold hands with your girl/boy friend? Not at Kilmer. Need to tap someone on the shoulder to get there attention? Oh no you don't!
Kilmer Middle School is located in Fairfax county in Virginia. This is not a district wide policy. A Fairfax representative has said that there are other middle schools and some elementary schools with a "keep your hands to yourself" policy, but the article doesn't say if those policies are as extreme as the one at Kilmer.
The principal of the school, Deborah Hernandez, thinks that the rule "makes sense" because the school is over crowded. According to Hernandez the policy allows students to have their "personal space" protected. She also claims that many of her students "lack the maturity to understand what is acceptable or welcome."
Oh please!
This woman doesn't seem to understand middle school age children. I have worked with and talked to enough 5th graders to know that the vast majority of them do know what is acceptable or welcome when touching another person. That doesn't mean they always follow it, but they do know.
For the sake of this argument, though, let's say that they don't know. How does having them not touch anyone at all teach them what is and isn't appropriate/welcome? All this policy does is teach that human contact in any form is bad.
It also gives one more rock for someone to hurl at education.
kip152:
Virginia…that says it all.
19 June 2007, 12:02 amjan:
So students who touch get suspended or expelled?
19 June 2007, 5:16 pmThat would solve overcrowding.
LAW:
oh good grief! NO touching? no high five, no nothing… and when your BFF is crying, I suppose giving her a hug would be a BAD thing. jeez. touching is necessary, it releases endorphins, it calms, soothes and makes the "connection" between people. This is one uptight twit.
LAW
19 June 2007, 7:24 pmDitte:
Oh my! As a teacher from Denmark that just sounds… surreal! I never heard of something like that before. Really scary somehow. Thanks for sharing.
20 June 2007, 3:58 amOldGuy:
This is the silliest thing I've ever heard of. All this does teach kids that human contact is bad, period. The next thing you know these kids will have kids of their own and they won't hug them because they were told not to.
20 June 2007, 2:31 pmSajjad:
Another example of the things that we only thought possible in movies and fiction. I guess the next step should be the removal of all emotions from our lives.
26 June 2007, 4:00 am