Year six students at a Melbourne school have staged a protest over a decision to extend a ban on contact sport to all physical contact including high-fives and hugs.
Students from Mount Martha Primary yesterday sat on the school's oval to highlight their anger at the move which parents say they were not informed of, the Herald Sun reports.
After the demonstration the pupils were reportedly gathered in the school's gym where they were told off by teachers.
The new rule was reportedly broadcast over the school's PA system with the children left to notify their parents of the new rule.
Tracey, the mother of a student at Mount Martha, told radio station 3AW her son had the wind knocked out of him on the playground and when a friend placed his hand on the child's back to comfort him a teacher reprimanded him for breaking the rules.
"I'm just a bit outraged that it has come to this. There must be other ways," Tracey said.
Another parent told 3AW his children had been threatened with an "instant detention" for high-fiving other students.
However, Mount Martha principal Judy Beckworth said the move was a "practice" and not a "policy".
She said the practice was adopted in response to a number of playground injuries in recent weeks and would only be applied for "no-contact games week".
"It's a practice that we've adopted to raise the awareness that it's unacceptable to play roughly in the playground," Ms Beckworth told 3AW.
She said parents would be informed of the new rule through the school's newsletter this week.
