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Students Get Into Hugging

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By MARILYN BROWN

mbrown@tampatrib.com

Published: December 2, 2008

TAMPA - A small group of students offered free hugs at Middleton High School on Monday to promote kindness and caring.

The effort is part of an international tolerance movement, says the Middleton student who started the local effort, Molly McConnell. Monday was chosen because it was the deadline for school districts to have an anti-bullying policy to comply with a new state law.

Although other school boards, including Pinellas County's, recently approved anti-bullying policies that comply with the new law, Hillsborough County has yet to do so.

A new policy against bullying and harassment has been drafted but won't be voted on by the school board until Dec. 9, said Nelson Luis, the district's director of administration. The district has had a defined bullying policy since 2001.

The new policy is much like the current one, but "this gives us more teeth," said Lewis Brinson, the district's assistant superintendent for administration.

If approved by the board, more training starts for staff when the policy kicks in for the second semester, Brinson said.

McConnell said the new policy is needed on a statewide basis, and she hopes efforts such as Hug Day can help. The Free Hug movement is a big item on YouTube, featuring video of worldwide participation.

"It's about being a community here," said McConnell, president of Middleton's Gay-Straight Alliance. Students asked permission to hug, then gave the students stickers to wear, noting they had been hugged.

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069.

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