It may make sense that certain public displays of affection should be off limits for junior high students, but a ban on hugs?

It has come to that at an Arizona school district, where administrators are taking a hard line on student-to-student embraces.

Mesa Public Schools always had rules against public displays of affection by students, but the administrators recently took additional steps to remind students what types of hugs and other activities, such as kissing, are unacceptable.

"We really don't want students having inappropriate behavior in the hallways," Kathy Bariess, a school administrator, told the TV station, which reports that students who hug longer than two seconds will be broken up.

Parents are split over the school district's policy, while students at Shepherd Junior High School staged a protest over the hugging ban.