Hands off edict to frisky teens at country Victorian school

Cuddling and kissing are off the curriculum at a country Victorian school, after lovestruck students were getting a little too frisky. But they’re not the only ones cracking down on young love.

Students have been asked to tone down the passion.

Budding love has been dealt a blow at a small country school where students have been told to stop kissing and cuddling and keep daylight between them at all times.

The principal at Derrinallum P-12 College, located on the Hamilton Highway about two hours from Melbourne, asked students to dial down the passion.

“Although we all get along swimmingly here at Derri College, I must remind students and families about the need for being appropriate in the yard,” principal Caitlyn Fitzgerald told families in the newsletter.

“I have mentioned previously about play fighting but also it’s come to our attention that some students are becoming a little too friendly.

“As students move through their schooling relationships start to blossom. While this is a natural part of growing up I do need to stress that students’ behaviour needs to reflect expectations.”

Derrinallum has a population of 400 and the prep to Year 12 school, with kids aged from five to 18, has an enrolment of around 80 students drawn from the surrounding area.

Hearts are aflutter at Derrinallum P-12 College but the principal has asked students to tone it down.

Ms Fitzgerald also cautioned against “students placing pressure on others to become a couple or kiss”.

“To help alleviate peer pressure students are not permitted to be involved in cuddling and kissing at school. We have no problems with couples spending their break time together but we don’t want to have to be telling them off for public displays of affection which can make other students and staff feel uncomfortable,” she said.

Ms Fitzgerald said she liked to explain it as the “daylight rule”.

“If the students are spending time together a staff member should always be able to see daylight between them,” she said.

In addition to sparing the feelings of others, avoiding close contact might also stop the spread of head lice, she said.

Ms Fitzgerald declined to comment further on the directive.

Trying to navigate budding Romeos and Juliets is an issue for many schools.

Bacchus Marsh Grammar banned flowers, gifts and cards this St Valentine’s Day.

Monivae College, a boarding school near Hamilton, sets out in its boarding house code that girls should not be in the boy’s part of the boarding house and vice versa.

It says as a rule commonsense and the “daylight rule” principle should apply, meaning daylight must be seen between the couple.

“Consequences of students violating the above, depending on the violation, will result in action ranging from a verbal warning through to suspension and expulsion,” the code states.

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A decade ago Warrnambool’s Brauer College had a “two bricks’ policy. Students, whether displaying passion or aggression for each, needed to keep the equivalent of two bricks or 30cm apart to avoid inappropriate contact.

Earlier this year, Bacchus Marsh Grammar banned the delivery of flowers, cards and gifts to the school on St Valentine’s Day, thwarting expressions of young love during school hours.

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