In November, an Illinois middle school struck what it deemed to be a blow for public decency by suspending a 13-year old girl for violating its ban on "public displays of affection.
"Her crime: hugging two friends goodbye at the end of school one day.
The punishment: two days in detention, one day for each hugged friend.
The predictable public reaction to date: laughter...
up to the point that the public realized that the school was being quite serious, and that these people are in charge of educating the next generation.
But the American system of justice-in the courtroom, as well as in the court of public opinion-has always been one that listens before it condemns (or laughs, as the case may be).
And so before drawing any conclusions, we should first know something about the background leading up to the school's hard line against soft or tender emotions.
Back in the 1990s, Mascoutah Middle School in Mascoutah, Illinois adopted a rule banning "public displays of affection.
" It is a rule which school officials insist has worked well in keeping adolescent hormones under control.
And it is probably not terribly different from similar rules in place throughout the country.
But the suspension of young Megan Coulter, for putting her arm around her friends and squeezing their shoulders as they parted company for the weekend, has brought ridicule and scorn upon her school.
And it has left some of us questioning whether we should be spending billions of dollars looking for intelligent life on other planets, when it appears to be so hard to find here on Earth.
The actual policy itself is probably not to blame.
The rule itself reads: "Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time.
It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.
"It appears aimed at preventing kids from making out on school grounds, and is a policy which fathers of teenaged girls everywhere will applaud.
And though it doesn't actually specify exactly what constitutes a "display of affection," suspending a couple of students for sucking face in full view of the rest of the school-or any impressionable and volatile adults in the vicinity-would probably have drawn yawns, rather than headlines.
In this case, though, the "display of affection" involved was no more than a shoulder squeeze.
Between girlfriends.
After school.
And as they were heading home for the weekend.
Like any sane human beings would do, Megan and her family immediately protested the school's decision, figuring that the administration couldn't be serious.
They dropped their protests when the girl was threatened with suspension if she didn't report as ordered for detention.
Presently, we have heard nothing from the local chapter of the ACLU about any anticipated legal action for sex discrimination: the boys' equivalent to the girls' shoulder squeeze-a punch on the shoulder-probably wouldn't qualify as a "display of affection," so the opportunities for further embarrassment to the school appears promising.
In the end, though, there is probably no need to add to the well-earned ridicule the school and its woolen-headed administrators will be getting in the coming weeks.
Rather, we should all worry about the messages we're sending to the next generation.
Like those we ourselves learned while growing up, most of these messages are unintentional, but they are ones that the kids will carry with them to adulthood.
In Mascoutah, the school seems to be teaching its students that in a world often filled with hatred and division, the adults in charge of things don't believe that there is any room for love, kindness, or friendship.
They are demonstrating the danger of taking themselves too seriously, and the risks that come from being unable to ask the right question.
They also seem to be demonstrating that it is better to make others suffer, rather than to admit making a mistake.
And sadly enough, the lesson the kids are most likely to draw is that they will all need to sort out what's important for themselves, because so many of the grownups around them have lost their ability to think.
Certainly, this wasn't the intent of the school.
In fact, their decision was probably the result of a desperate effort to avoid the need to think in the first place, and the escape the responsibility of making the sorts of distinctions that all of us make in our lives everyday.
But this will be the result of their unthinking application of rules that seemed quite logical at the time they were adopted-rules which, like most rules, carry unintended consequences if applied mechanically, without the involvement of someone's cerebral cortex.
Those who can adapt to the world manage to avoid applying the wrong rules at the wrong time, because they see that rules merely are there to guide us through life.
Those who cannot do so-and who believe that enforcing rules is an end in itself-make much of the trouble in the world, and often end up making fools of themselves in the process.
In the meantime, most of us can thank the Mascoutah Middle School for all the amusement they have brought into our lives.
But they really owe the young lady, and her classmates, an apology.