FREE HUG ALLIANCE - JOIN THE REVOLUTION

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by KathieK

I was one of the people in Hartford that hugged a member of the Free hug Alliance. But could I caution you a bit?
First of all, we need to be respectful of each other's personal space. Some people are huggers and others are not.
We need to remember that some people have medical conditions that prevent them from wanting to be hugged. It could hurt someone to hug them.
We also encourage our FIRSTers not to show PDA.

Keeping this in mind, offering free hugs to people may be fine. Hugging people without their permission is definitely not OK.

There was a kid trolling the lower floor of Buckeye hugging everyone in sight. Most people didn't mind but one of my students was very uncomfortable after her third hug and migrated back up to her seat. He also hugged another girl on a team who after a minute of being held was trying to pull away and he wouldn't let go until a teammate moved in and made him release.
I predict this kind if activity is going to lead to a sexual harassment lawsuit on FIRST. People do have a right to say no even if it's in the name of "fun" and if their wishes aren't respected they can take ANY action to put a stop to it.
Be mindful of that.