About four months ago, I wrote a post about a middle school principal in Oak Park, Illinois that decided to ban hugging in her school. While I found the entire concept of banning hugging ridiculous, it turns out that other principals were in favor of the idea.

A principal in Mesa, Arizona, recently instituted an anti-hugging policy where small hugs of less than two seconds are permitted, but anything longer is not.

The ridiculousness of this policy baffles my mind. Are there hall monitors that stand there with stopwatches in order to measure the length of the hug? How is a three-second hug less appropriate than a two-second hug?

Luckily, the students of this school are smarter than the administration, and spoke out against the new rule with a giant group hug. This alone proves the value of the hug. Instead of protesting with violence, furor, or disruption, they decided to speak up and speak out using one of the most peaceful and supportive methods possible: embracing each other.

Students of Shepherd Junior High School in east Mesa, I support you and join you in your efforts to eradicate such irresponsible and ridiculous school policies such as bans on hugging. In your honor, I will hug all my friends I see today and tell them about your plight.

In the meantime, try and giving your principal a hug. Maybe a lack of hugs is the actual root of the problem in the first place.