From Militarytimes.com
An elementary school for military kids in Bahrain has implemented a controversial new policy that bans any type of physical contact between students — from hugs to horseplay.
And while the school’s principal sees the No Body Contact rule as a temporary way to curb a recent spike in recess roughhousing, some parents say the policy goes too far.
“Young children need to be able to physically interact with their friends to feel secure, to release energy, and to help them learn,” said Theresa Tamash, who has a third-grade daughter at the school.
Tamash told Military Times in an email the new policy is “drastic” and was implemented without any prior notice to students and parents that there were ongoing problems at recess.
Bahrain School principal Penelope Miller-Smith referred a request for comment to the Department of Defense Education Activity. However, in earlier comments to Stars and Stripes, which first reported the story, she said the rule is only temporary as the administration works on a more permanent solution to “help reduce touching that is hurtful, unwanted and in some instances misunderstood.”
DoDEA spokesman Will Griffin said this technique, intended only to address an immediate issue, has previously been used at other schools and is seen as “a teaching and learning opportunity.”
In a Jan. 30 email to parents, obtained by Military Times, Miller-Smith wrote, “Over the past weeks our recess behavior has escalated to include frequent incidences with children touching, pushing and such to one another. For example, the game of tag often gets rough or children don’t realize how their tap is interpreted as a push. While many of these incidences are not intentional children are being hurt or feel like they are being hurt.”
In the email, the No Body Contact rule, dubbed NBC for short, is defined as “any touching to peers.” Students who break it will receive an immediate 1- to 3-minute time out.
“While many of the touching is meant as a gesture of kindness and friendship without a common and simple definition it becomes difficult to enforce,” the email states.
Read more here.
