Posted on 06/12/2009 6:27:49 AM PDT by FreeManWhoCan
In their endless campaign and their inherited duty to confound their elders, this latest generation of teenagers has adopted a new weapon:
Hugging.
As detailed by a recent front-page story in The New York Times, teenage hugging has become an epidemic stretching from one coast to the other. Girls are hugging girls. Boys are hugging boys. Boys are hugging girls and vice-versa, which is not really a new development, except that now the inter-gender embraces do not necessarily have ulterior motives.
“For Teenagers, Hello Means ‘How About a Hug?” according to the story’s headline.
“We’re not afraid, we just get in and hug,” a male high school junior is quoted as saying. “The guy friends, we don’t care. You just get right in there and jump in.”
“We like to get cozy,” an eighth-grade girl in San Francisco explains. “The high-five is, like, boring,”
One might think that the practice of kids exchanging hugs, not drugs — or slugs — would be welcomed without reservation and even with open arms by parents and educators. One might be wrong.
• A parenting columnist for the Associated Press admits that she is baffled.
“It’s a wordless custom, from what I’ve observed,” she writes in her book, “13 is the new 18.” “And there doesn’t seem to be any other overt way in which they acknowledge each other. No hi, no smile, no wave, no high-five — just the hug.”
• Experts have been consulted to delve into what this threat of teenage hugging is all about.
“Without question, the boundaries of touch have changed in American culture,” declares a Virginia sociologist. “We display bodies more readily, there are fewer rules governing body touch and a lot more permissible access to other people’s bodies....
(Excerpt) Read more at daytondailynews.com ...
That’s ironic because the teachers and parents started it all about a generation ago: Hugs not drugs, You can’t hug with nuclear arms, Group hugs...
I agree. My entire in-law family are huge huggers. It drives me crazy. Why can’t you people just shake hands???
Actually, hugging is healthier than handshaking. Ask any epidemiologist.
Wonderful thread.
Love it that hugging seems to be the big controversy of the morning. May it continue indefinately.
>>>Experts have been consulted to delve into what this threat of teenage hugging is all about.<<<<<
Good Lord
I can see that, but it’s still uncomfortable as all hell. Thankfully I haven’t been required to hug a complete stranger yet.
I like a good boob crush as much as the next guy, but jeez people, I’m an American. I like my space. Stay the freak outta my space.
I agree. Hugs are only appropriate for those who are family members or just as close. All this informal hugging is is “trial sex”.
My sons made me laugh. My older one said it is OK if the girl is good looking, but if any guys try it they’ll get decked.
My younger one said he can do without. He gets tired of getting them here at home from mom and dad. Of course we gave him one for being so smart!
You are 100% correct. When I first met my future in-laws from Wisconsin they thought I was going to attack them when I said goodbye with a big ol’ Texas bear hug. Northerners don’t like to touch each other too much.
Funny thing is that after all these years they greet me with open arms ready for a hug. It’s catchin’. . . .
Agreed.
In my day, two guys hugging meant they were funny. Not funny haha, funny queer.
And walking up to another guy and hugging him would be a sure way to get five across the eyes.
If I see my son hugging another boy, we gotta have a long talk.
Sounds like a lot of kids will grow up attached to their IPODS and computers.
I’m a life long Texan, I just never got into that hugging thing.. especially with all my coworkers from Arkansas, they are worse than Texans..
You should see my coworkers from Phoenix when they meet up with the Arkansas and Texas teams.. the looks they give the huggers are priceless.
My now “tween” daughter and her friends have been greeting each other with hugs since they were tiny. I don’t quite see how this is new.
Do you really consider informal hugging as ‘trial sex’?
They use hugs as an opportunity to pat down the other guy for weapons. ;)
All the kids (and high-school-sponsor adults) at my church do the hugging thing. I’m 51, but as a musician with the praise team, I get a kitchen pass, apparently - all the musicians (mostly male) ignore the hand I hold out to shake and just come on in with the hug. Waddevah...
Colonel, USAFR
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