Hugs and Teenagers

The New York Times has an interesting piece on teenagers and the prevalence of hugging among them.  I certainly have noticed that it is becoming almost a required event during the teenager greeting ritual.  The article mentions a number of possible reasons for this, including the thought that current teenagers have grown up in an era of organized play dates and structured socialization, making todays teenagers less individualistic than previous generations.  I haven't quite thought my way through the whole article, but one point really intrigued me:

Some parents find it paradoxical that a generation so steeped in hands-off virtual communication would be so eager to hug.

“Maybe it’s because all these kids do is text and go on Facebook so they don’t even have human contact anymore,” said Dona Eichner, the mother of freshman and junior girls at the high school in Montvale.

Check it out, it's worth a read.

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