Male Students Forced To Hold Hands As Punishment In Mesa, Arizona

Two students forced to hold hands as punishment have sparked a controversy in Mesa, Arizona, for a host of reasons relating to the humiliating and possibly homophobic method of discipline.

The two students forced to hold hands at Westwood High in Mesa have not been publicly identified, but an obscured image of the punishment made the rounds on Facebook as many criticized the ill-conceived consequence offered to the boys — who had faced suspension instead of the sanction.

Interestingly, the punishment requiring the two boys to hold hands may make slightly more sense when the precipitate is revealed — the pair had been fighting with one another, some internet comments from Westwood parents reveal, and the hand-holding was mandated to force the pair to get along more willingly and discourage further fighting.

However, the underlying message in forcing the two boys to hold hands seems to also resonate regardless — that males holding hands is an embarrassing circumstance, a tenet that could be damaging to gay students who might actually desire boy on boy hand-holding innately.

Student Brittney Smyers witnessed the hand-holding, and said:

“Kids were laughing at them and calling them names asking, ‘Are you gay?'”

Mickey Shull, another witness as the boys were forced to hold hands, says:

“It was funny … I’ve been in ROTC and it’s no different than some of the stuff you have to do there. It works.”

After the pic of the boys forced to hold hands publicly at school went viral and drew criticism, a Mesa Public School District representative issued a statement addressing the controversy:

“Mesa Public Schools is dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment. The district has guidelines for appropriate student discipline and our site administrators have the authority to impose consequences within our policies and regulations.”

It continued:

“The district does not condone the choice of in-school discipline given these students, regardless of their acceptance or willingness to participate. District leadership will address this matter with the school principal and review district protocol regarding student discipline with all administrators.”

It is not clear who is responsible for suggesting the boys be punished by forcing them to hold hands — but the pair are reported by parents in the school to now be friends.