Middle School Students Given Detention for Hugging November 8, 2007 7:47 p.m. CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) Detentions used to be handed out for tardiness, chewing gum, or talking in class, but as 22News Reporter Jackie Brousseau explains, now students are getting a detention for the most unexpected reasons. Parent Jeanne Toohey encourages her kids to show affection. "They're children; they're taught to hug, they're taught to love." What they're taught aside, hugging is not allowed at a growing number of schools nationwide. A 13-year-old girl in Illinois was recently given a detention for hugging her friends goodbye as the three parted for the weekend. Springfield parent Dejaun Johnson said, "I would go straight to the school board about that." At Forest Park Middle School in Springfield, students are not allowed to show public displays of affection, but for 12, 13, and 14-year-olds, it's part of their development and only natural for them to do it. Principal Bonnie Osgood at Forest Park Middle School said, "When they see their friends, they hug and they give a peck on the cheek. We just try to minimize it. We don't make a huge issue unless it gets out of hand." The school even has signs posted throughout the halls indicating a PDA-Free zone. If the rule is violated, there are consequences. The first step is usually a phone call home to make parents aware. If it gets a little farther, or we're catching the students all the time, it's possibly an in-house suspension. Distinguishing friendly hugs from hugs that mean something more, has become a daily task for teachers and staff at the school. Written by 22News Reporter Jackie Brousseau Added: November 09, 2007