Hugging For Better Health And Happiness
I love watching my children playing, being free to use their imagination and play freely is getting harder and harder in the world that we live in. It is normally not safe in some areas to let your children play out on their own anymore.
At least at school they have a safe haven to play freely with their friends and let their imagination run free. But can they? it seems some schools are becoming more of a concentration camp than a school with a rule for everything.
I was perturbed to hear recently that my kids school has introduced a ‘no hugging policy’.
This goes against everything I believe in. I have brought my children up to be tactile, balanced and loving caring kids, and to be empathetic towards others.
A childs school years can shape their attitudes and behaviours for years to come. Essentially telling our kids not to hug is in effect to act without emotion turning them into less caring, less balanced robots in the future.
Schools seem to be so strict with rules, you can’t bounce a ball after a certain time, you can’t sit with who you want to sit with at lunch and you can’t, can’t can’t can’t……do anything. Even as I am writing this I am getting frustrated…and my school years have long passed.
Are we content in wrapping our children so tightly that they can’t breathe and have no idea how to behave in real life when they leave school?
It’s okay for a child to fall over in the playground, they learn that if they run and don’t watch where they are going they might fall over, because at some point they will fall over. Yes, if the ground was cushioned they may not hurt themselves as much but will they remember not to do it again? probably not.
What they will remember is the child that helps them up and gives them a hug, or the teacher that talks to them kindly and gives them a hug. Children often copy adult behaviour so is it wrong to carry on with this normal emotion?
Neurologist Shekar Raman, MD, believes that hugging makes us feel happy, he said in the Huffington Post:
“A hug, pat on the back, and even a friendly handshake are processed by the reward center in the central nervous system, which is why they can have a powerful impact on the human psyche, making us feel happiness and joy… And it doesn’t matter if you’re the toucher or touchee. The more you connect with others — on even the smallest physical level — the happier you’ll be.”
In one study a 10 second hug a day was shown to reduce the effects of stress, lower the risk of heart disease, boost your immune system, fight infections, ease depression and fight fatigue, should we really be taking this away from our kids? I think not!
Has your school introduced a ‘no hugging policy’? I would love to hear your opinion on it?
References:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/06/hugging.aspx
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