(AOL) – The claims have sparked a row with the local Department of Education, which denied the reports, further angering parents and students.

Some parents say teachers at Figtree High School, near the city of Wollongong, south of Sydney, announced during a recent school assembly that hugging on school premises was banned.

“[A senior staff member] stood up at assembly and basically announced hugging was now banned and students would be given detention,” one mother told the Illawarra Mercury newspaper.

“If they can ban hugging, what are they going to do next — ban smiling?”

Outraged parents told the newspaper they believed hugging had been banned as a way to stop affectionate behavior between students during school time.

“They were told there’s no touching, no hugging from now on,” an unidentified parent said.

Figtree High School’s website makes no mention of the ban but says it aims “to provide a safe and caring environment where students, regardless of diversity, disadvantage or disability, reach their highest potential through positive and enriching learning experiences.”

Inquiries about the controversy were referred to the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, whose spokesperson said: “[A senior staff member] at the assembly talked about inappropriate touching of others — such as horseplay, pretend fighting, flicking and bumping — and gave a number of examples, including one about students hugging in the hallways and therefore blocking the path of other students returning to classes.”

But students dismissed the department statement.

“I’m a student in Year 10 at Figtree High School and I would just like to say that during the assembly it was clearly stated and I quote ‘if you touch, kiss or hug anyone, you will be sent to the deputy’s office and sent home’,” read one comment on the Mercury’s website (that also perhaps highlighted poor grammar).

“The kids should pretend that they are wrestling and get in the odd hug too,” read another comment post.

Wrote another: “How can the students be expected to respect the rules and guidelines made by the teachers if the parents of these kids are the first ones to oppose?”

Schools in the U.S. have imposed hugging bans for several years.

In 2007, The Associated Press reported a 13-year-old Illinois girl had been punished with detention for hugging two friends, violating her school’s ban on “public displays of affection.”