Philip Morant’s Got A Touchy Subject!
This article was written by one of our Young Reporters, a scheme that gives 14 to 18-year-old school students a chance to write for a real newspaper. Find out more at the Young Reporter website.
The Colchester School and College that has put a ban on ALL physical contact
What it means for students:
Students attending the Philip Morant School and College have been put in detentions and received sanctions for physical contact with each other including high-fives and hugs after a new rule was put in place banning physical contact among students, in order to control the fights and unruly behaviour of last term.
Many parents and carers are outraged with this new policy, which began at the start of the Autumn term, including one parent who has written an online petition against the rule.
How are they going to stick to this new rule with 1,900 students across the site, and will this result in a pandemic of overly-strict education in the UK?
Why has this caused such controversy?
The majority of parents feel that this rule is teaching their children that all forms of physical touch are not okay, affecting them not only socially but also intellectually.
Although yes, this rule is protecting students from physical fights and bullying, parents believe it creates a ‘blanket-rule’ instead of tackling the problems at hand individually.
The art of physical touch is to express emotion by showing it through a held hand, or a linked arm, a tap on the shoulder; to stop this altogether would be suppressing this emotion and ultimately leading students to feel uncomfortable expressing themselves in a physical manner.
After interviewing my friends (whom are ex-students) on the matter many of them said that their secondary school experience would have been so different had this rule been in place.
One of the ex-students, Scarlett Beck claims “It would have made me feel like i’m walking on eggshells and honestly I would have felt uncomfortable knowing I could get told off for greeting my friends.”.
Scarlett shares the same concern as many other ex-students who disagree with the policy, recognising how unrealistic it sounds in regards to their previous school experience however at the same time, it does prioritise student safety which in the long run, is highly beneficial for the school as a whole.
This isn’t the first UK secondary school who has attempted to instigate a ban on physical contact between students, for example in 2023 two schools in Peterborough put a touch ban in place, as well as a school in Southend.
So if it has worked for other schools, why not Philip Morant?
