Hugging. Worthy of punishment? In Alabama and Illinois it is.

A student at Prattville Junior High School in Antigua County, Alabama was disciplined last week after hugging a friend.

According to WSFA 12 News Autauga County officials wouldn't appear live but said they were just following district rules.

And East St. Louis suburb of Mascoutah, Illinois it'll get you detention.

Eigth-grader Megan Coulter hugged a friend good-bye on Friday and received a detention for the sign of affection.

District Superintendent Sam McGowen dismissed the punishment as a fair penalty according to the student handbook.

Her parents are planning on attending the upcoming school board meeting to have the policy towards displays of affection reworded.

Alabama and Illinois aren't the only states with heavy handed school districts. A middle school in Fairfax County has banned all forms of physical contact - handshakes, high-fives, and hand-holding.

"In a bid for order, safety and student comfort, officials at a Fairfax County middle school have prohibited all physical contact, the Washington Post wrote today. That includes hugging, hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives. One student was sent to the principal's office after a security officer spotted him get up from his assigned lunch seat (infraction No. 1) and slip his arm around his girlfriend (infraction No. 2) at another table. Three strikes and he could face detention or suspension.

"I think hugging is a good thing," said the accused, seventh-grader Hal Beaulieu. "I put my arm around her. It was like for 15 seconds. I didn't think it would be a big deal."

Principal Deborah Hernandez defends the rules, noting that her building was built to hold 850 students but has about 1,100 enrolled. All need to have their personal space protected, she says, but not everyone knows where the boundaries are.

"You get into shades of gray," Hernandez said. "The kids say, 'If he can high-five, then I can do this.' "

Source : USA Today