In the world of warm and fuzzy words, the policy at Jackson Heights Middle School would seem to be, well, perfect.

Inappropriate or Obscene Act – the use of oral or written language, electronic messages, pictures, objects, gestures, or engaging in unwelcome or inappropriate touching, or any other physical act that is considered to be offensive, socially unacceptable, or not suitable for an educational setting.

And that’s just one of a lengthy compendium of policies, from anti-bullying to zero tolerance, that makes the school special. But it’s the one that nailed 8th grade 14-year-old Ella Fishbough, whose conduct has fractured order at school with her PDA (that’s public display of affection, not the handheld shiny thing. No, not that handheld shiny thing).

The cheerful, curly-haired eighth-grader’s undoing came when she learned that a male friend was having a bad day. As consolation, Ella put her arms around him in a hug.

“It was literally for a second,” the eighth-grader told Click Orlando. But that moment earned her a morning in detention — as well as a blemish on her formerly spotless disciplinary record.

Busted.  No, a morning in detention isn’t exactly the death penalty, and a blemish on her 8th grade record may not preclude Harvard four years hence, but these are neo-apocryphal tales of how the confluence of absolutely necessary ideas by the deeply passionate plays out.

You know the deeply passionate, the people who scream about the harm done by bullies and how words can cut deeper than knives, so it’s imperative that society destroy all its children to save them?  Yeah, those guys.

It the process of creating a middle school safe space, one of the most dangerous things that can happen is that a student of one gender physically touches a student of another gender. Sexual violence? Sexual anything?  Because giving a friend a hug, giving grandma a hug, is inherently sexual?  Or is it that the forces who demand that we prevent all heinous conduct want to make sure that no touching goes unpunished?

At the first level, consider the language of the school’s policy.

. . . unwelcome or inappropriate touching, or any other physical act that is considered to be offensive, socially unacceptable, or not suitable for an educational setting.

And that means . . . what?  No kissing? Well, sure. Everybody knows kissing is a gateway to sexual violence. But these words, that some would call vagaries and others would call meaningless, have two problems: they fail to inform anyone what conduct is prohibited, and they provide the necessary latitude for school officials to condemn whatever conduct they please.  Busted, indeed.

It is at each principal’s discretion to determine what kind of touching is inappropriate. According to WFTV Orlando, hugging was banned altogether at Jackson Heights this year, in addition to holding hands, linking arms and kissing.

All of these actions are considered by the school to be PDA — Public Displays of Affection — and can result in a range of disciplinary actions decided upon by school administrators.

In other words, conduct is wrong if a school administrator decides it’s wrong. It can be a hug today, linking arms tomorrow, and inappropriate staring next week.  Note that it isn’t limited to actual touching, but any “inappropriate conduct.”  Just to make sure that nothing “inappropriate” goes unpunished.

As for the punishment meted out, there’s no limitation as well.  Detention, suspension, expulsion are all on the table, at school administrators’ whim.  For those who express how “no one should have to suffer” whatever their deepest concern may be, this is exactly how they demand the rules be expressed, because rules that used language that was comprehensible and sound might leave some arm-linking miscreant unpunished, or under-punished, and we can’t have that.

But even when the arbitrariness of this rule is recognized, there remains some bone in our heads that makes us think that imposition of punishment is compelled by whatever conduct conflicts with the current flavor of sexual sensibilities.   While castigating the capriciousness of this rule,  lawprof Jonathan Turley tosses in his personal PDA bright line:

Hugging was banned with other specific acts like kissing, linking arms, and holding hands. I can understand the ban on kissing, though hugging is a common act of friendship. The school is giving this act a presumed sexual meaning and creating a hyper-sensitive environment for these students.

So a ban on kissing is where the line should be drawn?  A kiss deserves punishment? Why?  While it may well be offensive to some to be forced to observe a peck on the cheek, is it so criminal as to warrant punishment?

When did any act that could remotely be considered sexual become wrong?  Kids in middle school date. They occasionally kiss. Sometimes they even hug. It may be a parent’s nightmare to realize their babies are growing up, and even worse, touching (or not) other people in sexual ways, but it happens.

Students learn things in school, even if it’s not math or spelling.  They learn that the way to avoid punishment is blind submission to arbitrary and meaningless rules, and the grown-ups charged with teaching them this vital lesson make sure they don’t get so uppity as to question the duty to comply.

They also learn that sex, even if not actually sexual such as a friend hugging another friend, is evil and must be stopped.  There is a war going on that eludes most grown-ups, but is being waged by educators to teach young people that anything that could be perceived as sexual is an evil to be eradicated.  Teach ’em young, and that’s the way to eliminate rape culture.  If they don’t get the political message, at least they learn that they must never touch anyone if they don’t want their record to be blemished.

And the insufferable school marms shrieking about these evils that must be stopped at all costs are smiling.  Too bad it happened to Ella Fishbough, but schools have rules, and sometimes a female student has to take one for the team.