Sam McNair, a 17 year old student was suspended for sexual harassment after hugging a teacher in Duluth Georgia. He is a senior and said all that it was just an innocent hug and nothing more. He thought his hug might’ve helped out the teacher since well you never know what someone is going through and how a hug might help.
After hugging the teacher, Sam found himself suspended from high school and putting his future plans in jeopardy. The mother admits that they are putting his scholarship at jeopardy. His mother claims that they sort of call them selves the huggers since it’s in their nature but was utterly shocked that he would get suspended for that long due to an innocent hug.
The surveillance video shows Sam putting his hands around the teacher, then hugging her and then her pulling away. The teacher in question claimed his lips touched her neck and that she had warned him in the past about his hugging. When asked by the reporter whether he kissed the teacher in which Sam replied no. He says he’s hugged many of his teachers and even in fact his teacher who never gave him any warning.
The school did go on to state that in fact the past history of the students, police testimony and the situation at hand all come into play and determine the length of suspension.
She also stated that if parents don’t like the outcome then they can appeal to a decision panel.
Sam has stated that he only had 5 months left in his senior year and could not understand why they would do this to him at this time. His mother stated that she will fight the decision appeal and should have been notified of his past hugging if it were in fact a problem. Instead of threatening his future and his scholarship. His mother then went on to Facebook and posted a change petition calling the board to reconsider and actually had more than 200 signatures by Monday evening.
The online public reaction to Sam McNair’s punishment seems to be somewhat mixed. Those who believe it’s too severe and those who are looking into his past to see what more may lay behind.
Sue Scheff, a parenting advocate has said that the zero tolerance is a bit severe however she would like to look into Sam’s past and what his prior suspensions were all about. But she did go on to taste that hugging is not a form of sexual harassment unless with further intention which she did not see in this case.
Other Commentators do believe though if the teacher had complaint about this incident prior then that is the key point here. One commentator was noted as saying he couldn’t believe what the world had come into when simple hugs can’t even be exchanged. The whole situations seems to have been taken out of context. Sam himself stated that something so innocent should not have been perceived as something completely opposite, it was uncalled for.