School Bans Hugging and High-Fives

News from 28th, May

Make sure you undestand all the highlighted words and expressions.

A high school in London has banned students from all forms of physical contact with each other. The Quest Academy has warned students not to hug, shake hands, or give high-fives. The school was briefly the centre of attention a week ago when US president Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron visited it. The two leaders perhaps broke the school rules with their back-slapping and high-fives during a game of table tennis with students. The idea behind the banning is to help prevent bullying, according to school principal Andy Croft. He said: "Physical contact between students is not allowed at the academy because it is often associated with poor behaviour or bullying and can lead to fighting."

Students and parents are up in arms at the new rules. Student Dayna Chong, 15, received detention for cuddling her female friend. She said: "They're trying to turn us into robots." Her mother called the policy “extreme” and “ludicrous”. She said: "If the kids can't even hug each other at school some of them will never learn how to be socially interactive.” She added: “School is supposed to be where we start teaching our children how to be social - shaking hands, hugging, opening up. You need an embrace to comfort you when things go wrong. I've never heard of anything so crazy in my life." Mr Croft disagreed, saying his policy, “creates a disciplined environment which is essential for learning and respect”.


TRUE / FALSE: Read the article. Say if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A London school said students cannot shake hands with each other.	T / F
b.	Barack Obama visited the school.	T / F
c.	The government put the new law in place.	T / F
d.	The school principal said physical contact led to bullying.	T / F
e.	Parents agree with the new rules.	T / F
f.	A student said the school was trying to turn students into robots.	T / F
g.	A mother said school kids shouldn’t be hugging each other at school.	T / F
h.	The principal thinks the new rules are totally crazy.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	banned	a.	momentarily
2	warned	b.	stop
3.	briefly	c.	ridiculous
4.	prevent	d.	embracing
5.	lead to	e.	angry
6.	up in arms	f.	prohibited
7.	cuddling	g.	vital
8.	ludicrous	h.	cautioned
9.	comfort	i.	result in
10.	essential	j.	support

YOUR OPINION

1. What do you think of the new physical contact rules at Quest Academy?2. Which is / was your most hated school rule?
3. Were Barack Obama and David Cameron bad role models?
4. How often did / do you break school rules?
5. Can any rules prevent bullying?2.