Parents, schools resolve hugging dispute

MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) — Maybe they hugged it out: school officials resolved their dispute with the parents of a 13-year-old girl given detention for hugging her friends.

Melissa and Dean Coulter met with officials of the Mascoutah School District 19 to discuss the two detentions given their daughter, Megan, for hugging friends goodbye for the weekend. School officials said the eighth grader violated a policy banning public displays of affection.

“Our whole purpose of the meeting was to get them to talk to us and discuss what changes needed to be made and if [the policy] could be improved,” Dean Coulter said. “We scheduled it because we figured it was the right thing to do.”

Her parents told her to serve the detentions to avoid getting into more trouble, and had planned to take the issue before the Board of Education at its meeting Thursday.

Superintendent Sam McGowen said in a statement Monday that the Coulters had withdrawn their request to speak at the meeting, and decided instead to meet with administrators.