Aussie students strike over smooch ban

Students at an Australian high school have gone on strike over the right to kiss in the playground.

Earlier this week a group of more than 200 students at Rutherford Technology High School in New South Wales walked out in protest at what they said was the inconsistent and discriminatory nature of discipline there.

Students cannot smoke at school. Students cannot swear at school and their kissing demands will not be met

John Aquilina MP, New South Wales Education Minister

They say "unwanted" students who are caught kissing, swearing and smoking are treated differently from others.

The school's principal Sharon Parkes has said holding hands is allowed but what she called "prolonged kissing" was a no-no.

Now a hard core of activists say they will remain "on strike" until their demands are given a fair hearing.

The rebels, aged between 14 and 17, have labelled themselves "non-conformists" standing up against discrimination.

More than a kiss

We shouldn't be punished for embracing or kissing; it's part of who we are and they shouldn't try to stifle that

Protesting student

"It's about students standing up for what we believe in", year 11 student Charly Lindsay told the Sydney-based Daily Telegraph.

"All we want is equality and then we'll be happy."

The students have dismissed Ms Parkes' rules as coming from her "middle class mentality" and said the schools rigid rules were an effort to suppress their individuality.

Several of the striking students' parents have given their support to the action saying the principal was out of touch.

Sex and drugs

Further strikes have been threatened if their concerns are not met.

Callers to local radio stations have hit out at the students' demands, saying young people need to be protected from sex and drugs, not given carte blanche to indulge in them.

Their action has also drawn fire from New South Wales' Education Minister who said there was no question of bowing to the strikers' demands.

State MP John Aquilina said the school principal had taken a firm stand and any student who did not like the school's values should consider leaving.

"Students cannot smoke at school. Students cannot swear at school and their kissing demands will not be met," he said.