The parents of a 14-year-old Florida student have hired a lawyer to defend their daughter who was punished by her school for hugging a classmate.
Ella Fishbough, an eighth-grade student, was given detention by the Jackson Heights Middle School in Oviedo, Florida after she was caught hugging a male classmate to console him after finding out that he was "having a bad day" last Monday, an act which school authorities said violated school rules.
"It was literally for a second," Ella told Orlando TV station WKMG.
As soon as she released her arms on the boy, a school official who saw them blew the whistle and cited Ella for "public display of affection," a prohibited act in the school. The official said it was the second time Ella was caught doing the act, necessitating the imposition of the punishment.
According to the Seminole County School District's code of conduct, students are banned from "inappropriate touching."
"There will be no hugging, holding hands, kissing, arm linking, inappropriate touching, etc. between students at the school," the policy reads. "Students who violate this policy will be dealt with accordingly. This policy is in effect at all school-sponsored dances and activities as well."
Ella's mother, Kathy, said she was shocked that her daughter was being punished for showing compassion to a classmate.
"I'm definitely hoping that we're bringing light to this subject," said Kathy, according to ClickOrlando.com. "I really didn't expect this."
Lawyer Matt Morgan said, "According to these alleged policies and procedures, a simple hug given to a friend in their time of need is apparently worthy of reprimand."
"We believe this conduct sends the wrong message to our children. They should be encouraged to be kind, not discouraged. The family hopes to bring awareness to this issue in an attempt to make our school systems a more compassionate and loving place for children to spend their days," he said.
Seminole County School District spokesman Michael Lawrence said the issue is how far students can go to show affection.
"If you're hugging your friends, you just won a big game, they're all mobbing you and giving you a hug, or you just saw your friend over the summer and you're greeting them briefly for the first time, that's OK," he said.
The school's planner states "no hugging," but Lawrence said the rule might go too far.
"They get those planners year after year. That's something that we will review, and if it needs clarification, we can tweak the verbiage of that particular area," he said.
The Fishbough family met with the school principal on Thursday and watched the surveillance video of the incident.
"I'm hoping to have a better understanding of what was witnessed, what took place, and maybe then we can shine a little light on both sides of the story and come together as adults and figure out what we can do from here forward," Kathy said before her meeting with school officials.
Her daughter served her detention on Friday.
