11th October 2011

School bans ‘inappropriate’ touching

A Cape primary school has not exactly banned hugging - but says it wants to crack down on inappropriate touching between pupils.

A Western Cape primary school has not exactly banned hugging – but says it wants to crack down on inappropriate touching between pupils.

Media reports had it that Wolraad Woltemade Primary in Bothasig had banned hugging for pupils in Grades 5, 6 and 7 because they were using hugs to touch each other inappropriately.

It was reported that ball games had also been banned because they led to pupils fighting.

School principal Elaine Kesten referred all queries to Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for the Western Cape Education Department. She told the Cape Timeson Monday that hugging had not been banned.

“The school has just enforced the rules of the school’s code of conduct – namely that ‘learners will not behave in an improper, unbecoming or disgraceful manner’. Learners innocently hugging one another have not been ‘banned’. The school simply wants to avoid inappropriate touching.”

The school governing body had decided it was necessary to monitor pupils’ hugging when staff had noticed pupils were touching each other inappropriately while they embraced