Saint Mary's County Elementary School has caused quite a controversy after banning three things that are common and normal for most people: Hugs, invitations and homemade food.

This list of rules was created by a group of teachers and parents, which was then handed out to every student’s parent. Many of who have now complained because they feel that these restrictions are not fair on their own children.

According to school officials who decided to implement these rules, the reasons for these changes are the following:

The invitations because school officials argue that if they are handed out at school, and there are children that are not invited. It can hurt these children’s feelings, and that’s something that they do not want.

As for Homemade food, officials said that they want to avoid any allergy outbreaks a child may have. So they are recommending that when parents bring something to celebrate their child’s birthday, they would like for these items to be purchased in stores and be natural and not have any ingredients that may cause allergies.

In regards to hugs, especially aimed at parents, school officials are banning any hugging, kissing or even saying something to any child that is not your own. Parents cannot also walk with their child when they go to the cafeteria.

Other prohibitions are that parents cannot visit their children during recess, cannot approach the teachers to try to talk to them without an appointment, and children with siblings at the school cannot go to visit them during hours that are not appropriate.

The state of Maryland has previously been in the spot light for these types of rules. Who can forget that in this same state a few years ago, a 7 year old boy was suspended from school for biting his Pop Tart into the shape of a gun.

Joy.Ruvalcaba@sandiegored.com