Tuesday, June 02, 2009

*Hug*

by Teresa

So there’s an article in the New York Times that kind of makes me shake my head a little.  The tone of the piece implies that hugging is a brand-new phenomenon, or at least a very recent phenomenon, among high school students. It talks about how teens use hugs as a greeting, how they hug in hallways between classes.  It contains the sort of reactions you’d expect from some people who think teens shouldn’t be doing all this hugging, as well as references to some schools that try to ban hugging.
I know nothing about the reporter whose byline is on the story, but I just have to wonder a bit about her, and the editors who worked on her story. Obviously someone thought this “hugging thing” was some sort of big news flash.
I disagree.  Kids hugged in my high school all the time (and I was not in high school recently).  We hugged at school, out of school, in between classes, at after-school activities, etc.  We hugged at church.  All my close friends hugged me and hugged each other… you know, because we liked each other.  And we were friends.
So, was my high school really so unusual?  Is it really so astonishing that friends hug each other?  Are there high schools where teens never hugged?  I don’t think so. 
At least one blogger feels the same way: Brett Singer of Babble’s “Strollerderby” blog.  Here’s what he had to say about it.  He points out that banning or regulating hugs (with a “three-second” rule!) will probably just make kids want to do MORE hugging.  And I’m quite sure he’s right.
I also think, frankly, there are far more serious things to worry about where teenagers are concerned.  Drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, school standards, standardized testing, bullying… just to name a few.  Maybe we ought to leave the huggers alone, and focus on some of the more important issues teenagers face every day.