A hug can brighten your day. It's so popular, there has even been a hug campaign around the world. But the gesture got some Palm Bay Southwest Middle School students into big trouble.
"I thought it was the most bizarre thing I've ever heard," said Nancy Crescente, the mother of 14-year-old Nickolas Martinez. "We're a cultural family and this is what we do." Crescente said both her son and the 14-year-old girl who was the recipient of the hug were suspended. She says she wasn't notified about the suspensions until afterwards. "They said this is what they do across the board, it is what it is. And that was that."
School administrators said a committee of parents approved the "no hugging" policy years ago, and there aren't plans to change it any time soon.