Touching Students

[lsho]

I feel ya! I worry about where the line is drawn. I teach 7th grade and a lot of my students are very clingy and huggie. Some really want hugs. But after watching one too many bad Lifetime movies about shamed female teachers, I limit my physical interaction to a high five. A high five is very hard to take the wrong way. I should also mention that I am 22. A 22 year old female teacher shouldn't hug a male student (or female for that matter). I have only hugged one student, a female, who was an emotional wreck one day. She was my student last year (I filled a position in April of last year). But even that was in the hallway. It is such a fine line. These days, with camera phones and multimedia messaging, it is like walking on eggshells 24/7. As someone above said about acting like a camera is on you at all times: IT IS! Go to Youtube and type in like "teacher". You'll see teachers loosing it on a class where a student had a camera phone and recorded it. Scary world, ya know?

Anyway, I totally got off topic!! My advice? High fives, fist bumps, or handshakes are generally safe bets.

[catnfiddle]

During the rare times I see my students during the school year it is rarely more than a hand on the shoulder for a half second. When they finally make it to graduation this spring, I am hugging as many of them as possible!

[MissCeliaB]

I keep getting ninja hugged by some of my students who think it's funny because I cringe. Sometimes I'll put my hand on a student's back if I'm trying to see what's on their computers. We have a class set, and they are set down in the desks, so sometimes I have to lean over a student to be able to see. Putting my hand on their shoulder or back keeps me from falling over onto them!

[shouldbeasleep]

I'm not a hugger, but I recognize that some of my students are, so they get a quick hug now and then.

But mostly I say, "You are violating the zone of safety!" when they get too close.

And my door is open if there is only one student in my classroom.

[catnfiddle]

One time when I was still subbing, a student I knew well asked me for some tutoring during the second half of lunch. This kid had a minor crush on me, so I was a little wary but agreed as long as we could work in the glass-walled tutoring part of the library with the doors open. Got kicked out of there by a full-time teacher and moved to a classroom where there was another teacher sitting but who said I wasn't interrupting. Not only did the teacher leave me with this student, he shut the stupid door behind him! I cut the tutoring session short soon after that because I was too uncomfortable.