Hugging acceptable if not excessive

Contrary to what you may have heard, Centennial Middle School in Boulder, Colorado, has not actually banned hugging. Apparently the principal's concern about hugging was not that it was corrupting the morals of youth, but that some goodbye hugs went on so long that students were late to class. The principal commented that the school approved of "developmentally appropriate displays of affection among our students, while monitoring for excessive displays."

While it seems that the hugging ban was a rumour started by students, it's an interesting sign of the moral times that such a rumour was taken up and was around the media in seconds. Few people thought "Oh c'mon, a Middle School stopping kids hugging each oher - that's got to be a hoax." Given the way the world, or at least America, is going, it seemed all too believable.