Student suspended for sexual harassment after hugging teach# Parenting - 为人父母
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Student suspended for sexual harassment after hugging teacher
Editor's note: Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-
large covering family, career and life. Read her other columns and follow
her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.
(CNN) -- To Sam McNair, a 17-year-old high school senior in Duluth, Georgia,
it was an innocent hug.
"You never know what someone's going through," McNair told CNN affiliate
WGCL in Atlanta. "A hug might help."
It didn't in this case because after McNair hugged a teacher, he ended up
with a year-long suspension from Duluth High School, putting his college
plans in jeopardy.
"He's a senior; he plays football. He was getting ready for lacrosse season,
and you are stripping him of the opportunity to even get a full scholarship
for athletics for college," April McNair, Sam's mother, told WGCL.
The elder McNair, who says she and her son call themselves huggers, said she
was dumbfounded to learn of her son's suspension after hugging a teacher.
READ: School drops sexual harassment claim against 6-year-old who kissed
girl
Teen gets one year suspension for hug Sexual harassment at six years old?
Generation stressed: teens boiling over Talking to teens about social media
Surveillance video captures the hug in question, showing Sam placing his
arms around the teacher and giving her a hug. The teacher then pushes him
away.
According to a discipline report obtained by WGCL, the teacher said Sam's
lips and cheeks touched her neck and that she had warned Sam about hugging
in the past.
Asked if he kissed the teacher, Sam told the television reporter he did not.
He said he has hugged teachers many times before, including this teacher,
and has never been warned.
In a statement, Sloan Roach, a spokesperson for the Gwinnett County Public
Schools, told CNN, "Hearing officers consider witness testimony, a review of
the known facts, and a student's past disciplinary history -- including
long-term suspensions that result in alternative school placement -- when
determining consequences."
"If a parent has concerns about the outcome of a panel, he or she is
entitled to appeal the decision to the Gwinnett County Board of Education,"
Roach added.
READ: SOS for stressed out teens
Since this is a discipline issue, the law prohibits the district from
sharing details about the student's situation or the student's past
discipline history, said the spokesperson.
Sam told WGCL he does have a discipline record and previous suspensions but
not for sexual harassment.
"I have five months left in my senior year. I don't see why they would take
that away from me," said Sam.
His mother plans to appeal the school board's decision and said the school
should have notified her if there were any problems with his hugging before
suspending him and threatening his college future.
On her Facebook page, she posted a Change.org petition, calling for the
school district to "revisit a year-long suspension for hugging a teacher."
The petition had more than 200 signatures as of Monday evening.
Reaction online has been mixed, with many believing the punishment might be
severe but raising questions about Sam's prior history.
READ: Zero tolerance makes zero sense: Teen punished for helping drunk
friend
"Our zero tolerance is taken a bit too far, but I have to reserve my
comments since I am curious what his 'previous records' of suspension were
about, as well as his disciplinary record," said Sue Scheff, a parenting
advocate.
"But I don't think hugging constitutes sexual harassment unless he has
intent otherwise and it doesn't seem that way," said Scheff.
Some commenters said the allegation that the teacher raised the issue before
with Sam was a key point.
"If she has warned him before and he did it again and his hand or face
touches her where she believes it's inappropriate, like (the) neck or breast
, it's textbook sexual harassment," said a viewer on WGCL's website.
But said another commenter, "This is crazy. Now we can't hug people anymore.
What in the world?"
"Something so, so innocent can be perceived as something totally opposite,"
said Sam.
Follow Kelly Wallace on Twitter and like CNN Living on Facebook.
Editor's note: Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-
large covering family, career and life. Read her other columns and follow
her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.
(CNN) -- To Sam McNair, a 17-year-old high school senior in Duluth, Georgia,
it was an innocent hug.
"You never know what someone's going through," McNair told CNN affiliate
WGCL in Atlanta. "A hug might help."
It didn't in this case because after McNair hugged a teacher, he ended up
with a year-long suspension from Duluth High School, putting his college
plans in jeopardy.
"He's a senior; he plays football. He was getting ready for lacrosse season,
and you are stripping him of the opportunity to even get a full scholarship
for athletics for college," April McNair, Sam's mother, told WGCL.
The elder McNair, who says she and her son call themselves huggers, said she
was dumbfounded to learn of her son's suspension after hugging a teacher.
READ: School drops sexual harassment claim against 6-year-old who kissed
girl
Teen gets one year suspension for hug Sexual harassment at six years old?
Generation stressed: teens boiling over Talking to teens about social media
Surveillance video captures the hug in question, showing Sam placing his
arms around the teacher and giving her a hug. The teacher then pushes him
away.
According to a discipline report obtained by WGCL, the teacher said Sam's
lips and cheeks touched her neck and that she had warned Sam about hugging
in the past.
Asked if he kissed the teacher, Sam told the television reporter he did not.
He said he has hugged teachers many times before, including this teacher,
and has never been warned.
In a statement, Sloan Roach, a spokesperson for the Gwinnett County Public
Schools, told CNN, "Hearing officers consider witness testimony, a review of
the known facts, and a student's past disciplinary history -- including
long-term suspensions that result in alternative school placement -- when
determining consequences."
"If a parent has concerns about the outcome of a panel, he or she is
entitled to appeal the decision to the Gwinnett County Board of Education,"
Roach added.
READ: SOS for stressed out teens
Since this is a discipline issue, the law prohibits the district from
sharing details about the student's situation or the student's past
discipline history, said the spokesperson.
Sam told WGCL he does have a discipline record and previous suspensions but
not for sexual harassment.
"I have five months left in my senior year. I don't see why they would take
that away from me," said Sam.
His mother plans to appeal the school board's decision and said the school
should have notified her if there were any problems with his hugging before
suspending him and threatening his college future.
On her Facebook page, she posted a Change.org petition, calling for the
school district to "revisit a year-long suspension for hugging a teacher."
The petition had more than 200 signatures as of Monday evening.
Reaction online has been mixed, with many believing the punishment might be
severe but raising questions about Sam's prior history.
READ: Zero tolerance makes zero sense: Teen punished for helping drunk
friend
"Our zero tolerance is taken a bit too far, but I have to reserve my
comments since I am curious what his 'previous records' of suspension were
about, as well as his disciplinary record," said Sue Scheff, a parenting
advocate.
"But I don't think hugging constitutes sexual harassment unless he has
intent otherwise and it doesn't seem that way," said Scheff.
Some commenters said the allegation that the teacher raised the issue before
with Sam was a key point.
"If she has warned him before and he did it again and his hand or face
touches her where she believes it's inappropriate, like (the) neck or breast
, it's textbook sexual harassment," said a viewer on WGCL's website.
But said another commenter, "This is crazy. Now we can't hug people anymore.
What in the world?"
"Something so, so innocent can be perceived as something totally opposite,"
said Sam.
Follow Kelly Wallace on Twitter and like CNN Living on Facebook.