Stupid people make my head hurt.

[kippurbird]

Today's stupidity award goes to people who are suspending pre-schoolers and kindergartners for sexual harassment. From Newsweek (Nov. 26, 2007):

Four year old... was suspended last year for sexual harassment when a female aide reported that the child buried his face in her chest when she hugged him...

Blackwell is one of a number of parents whose kindergartners and first graders are being suspended, often for days at a time, for sexual misconduct based on behavior like hugging, poking and pinching classmates or school staff. In Ohio, 74 first graders were suspended for "unwelcome sexual conduct" last year, up from 52 in 2005. In Virginia, at least 13 kindergartners have been suspended in each of the last three years for "sexual touching"...

"A lot of people say,'well, it's just elementary-age kids.' But... our culture has a lot of vulgarity in it right now," says Jim Walsh, a Texas lawyer who trains school officals to spot sexual harassment among students. Administrators are "on guard, and understandably so."

You know, in the 60s when a child wasn't affectionate, they said this was a serious problem. Now it's a serious problem when they are. I think the former is better than the later. How else are kids supposed to learn how to be appropriately affectionate when they aren't allowed to be at all?
---

Oh yes, I'm sort of back. I'd tell you what's up, but then you'd give me hugs and I'd have to sue you for Sexual Harassment. >:D

Comments

[canadianevil.livejournal.com]

o.O I ran around hugging people all the time when I was in school.

Of course, I've grown up to be very touch-issued, but I hardly think it stems from that.

[thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I heard this quite a while ago...

It's still rather stupid, though. Now, if he'd been doing it a lot and the aide had been asking him to stop, that would be a somewhat different matter.

*hug* Bring it on!

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

This icon is totally your fault and fully appropriate to the topic.

Welcome back.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

My god, this is complete idiocy. As a little toddler, I ran around half naked, played "doctor" with male friends and hugged people. I turned out fine. Weak argument, but I mean, this is what makes kids embarrassed of their bodies, being taught that their body is something to be ashamed of. It's a normal phase of development, these kids don't even understand the "sexual" in sexual touching.

[spoofmaster]

Well, like thelittlebudgie said, if the aide had asked him not to hug her that way and he did it anyway, then I could see him getting some sort of reprimand, though I doubt he meant it sexually and it would have to be more of a lesson in listening to people than in sexual sensitivity.

And wait, it says she hugged him. Is she just not familiar with the face that kids that age are the right height for chest-face contact to occur pretty much whether either party wants it to or not? And anyway, I'd see that sort of behavior more as a response to a mom-figure than anything else. Still not totally appropriate for the setting, but hardly "vulgar."

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

I'm not big on the whole touching issue, but that's just dumb. Girls that age don't even have boobs for one to bury their face in! It's just...ugh. What the hell?

Now, my sister when we were in elementary school, had some boys going around grabbing the tits of the other girls. The school let that slide by saying, "Boys will be boys." So our dad gave her permission to act if they try it on her.

She ended up knocking one of them out for touching her.

And she got suspended.

That I think qualifies more as sexual harassment then "OMG LET ME HUG U!!1!"

[karma-kalisutah.livejournal.com]

Your sister rocks.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that's just begging for some seriously fucked-up body issues when they're older. Thta's hardly conducive to healthy development. Either those kids are going to become repressed and unable to physically express affection, or theyr'e going to go the other direction and seek the denied physical affection through excessive sexuality.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Yay for your sister and dad, boo for the school

[karma-kalisutah.livejournal.com]

Eeek.

I was a bit over-affectionate in elementary school, I think. I used to kiss the school secretaries. I think they eventually got reprimanded, because one day they started insisting that I not do it anymore.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I agree. I mean little kids do it all the time... why? Because they're little kids.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Even still, it wouldn't be sexual harassment because the kid has no idea what sex is. It maybe be uncomfortable for the adult, but still not sexual harassment, because you have to do it intentionally, at least that what I think.

[canadianevil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, seriously.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes. It is. :D

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Mostly because little kids don't realize the difference between boys and girls yet either.

They're making it impossible for little kids to grow up normally. They're making them all sanitary and PC. Which'll cause more problems in the long term.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I doubt he meant it sexually

From the article, it didn't sound like it. The dad was just as confused about it.

I think vulgar should only count if you're old enough to know what it means.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I despise touching. But still...

Your dad was, in my opinion, acting appropriately. Though while I think your sister did something totally awesome... perhaps it was a bit too much.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I think people are just being stupid when it comes to little kids. I mean really.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

Well, as a toddler, I knew there were "girl" parts and "boy" parts, but it wasn't anything to be ashamed of.

And PC doesn't work. Kids work themselves out right in time...IF you let them.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Little kids definitely know that there is a difference. It's not uncommon for a child to prefer to be around one gender or the other, for example.

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

I'm not big on the whole touching thing, either. It depends on the gender and the nature of the touching. A friendly hug has never bothered me much. Guys who stand too close to me, on the other hand, does. I also don't do well with holding hands.

It probably was a bit much, but my sister has always been pretty brute and tomboyish. And because the school was doing jack shit about it, she had to handle it her own way. The sad part is, is that my dad's girlfriend told me way worse stories about when her daughter went to school. Just...my god.... But that's an entirely other story on how retarded the school system is.

[notadoor.livejournal.com]

It's weird to see this, because my roommate is currently volunteering with ... I don't remember if it's a preschool or a kindergarten. But her favorite part of the job is when the kids run up to her and hug her.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

That is completely retarded. When did we stop worrying about the teachers molesting the kids, and start worrying that the kids would molest the teachers???

And yes, as others have said, the kids don't even understand what's going on. Suspending them isn't going to do any good if they can't comprehend what they're supposed to have done wrong.

Heck, from at least the age of 5, maybe younger, I had a fixation on tying up girls... and it was YEARS before I understood there was anything sexual about it. I was a teenager before I even understood what sex was...

Sheesh.

[karma-kalisutah.livejournal.com]

Heck, from at least the age of 5, maybe younger, I had a fixation on tying up girls... and it was YEARS before I understood there was anything sexual about it. I was a teenager before I even understood what sex was..

Huh. Same here.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Good to know I'm not alone then. :D