In Palm Bay, Nick Martinez recently found out by being suspended that his school, Southwest Middle, does not tolerate public displays of affection.
His crime? The 14-year-old was caught hugging his female friend.
He wasn't touching her inappropriately, and he wasn't forcing himself upon her. Even the principal who spotted the "incident" told reporters the hug was innocent.
But according to school district spokeswoman Christine Davis, the middle school "must be protective of the students."
From what exactly is this school district protecting its students? Normal human affection?
Zero-tolerance policies, especially those related to sexual harassment and public displays of affection, have crossed a line in recent years.
In 2006, a 5-year-old boy was cited for sexually harassing a female student after he pinched her buttocks in the hallway of his Hagerstown, Md., elementary school.
From 2005 to 2006, 28 kindergarten students in Maryland were suspended for sexual harassment and other related offenses.
Children at this age are afraid of the opposite sex because of "cooties," so most of these "citations" cannot truly be warranted. Do these schools really believe that each of these children intended to perform a sexual act on another student?
Or is it simply that 5-year-olds don't know anything about sex or sexual harassment and do things adults would never do to each other? Children pick each others' noses, for instance.
Punishing students for these incidents might be trying, in some weird way, to teach kids lessons about sexual harassment, but can we really expect children this age to know what they're doing wrong? Chances are the students become more confused about sexual behavior after these incidents, forcing parents to have extremely difficult and awkward conversations.
These incidents also appear on the school records of students, which could have consequences for getting into advanced classes or programs.
Ted Feinberg, assistant director of the National Association of School Psychologists, told ABC News in response to a 2008 incident that these cases constitute "a gross mislabeling of the [children's] behavior and an overreaction" on the part of school officials.
Children should be treated like children, not like teenagers or adults. Sexual harassment is a problem, but not for kids who haven't hit puberty yet.
Little boys will always pick on little girls and little girls will pick on little boys. When they accidentally touch a "no-no" part, they don't know any better.
Schools should focus on teaching kids reading, writing and arithmetic, not preventing them from giving friendly hugs.
