'Don't touch': School bans pupils from handshakes, high-fives and hugs... to beat bullying

No contact: Children at The Quest Academy have been banned from hugging, high-fiving or shaking hands (posed picture)

When Barack Obama and David Cameron were pictured back-slapping and congratulating each other over a game of table tennis this week, it was an image that went around the world.

It showed that two of the most powerful men in the world had a deep respect and understanding, with a hint of competitiveness, for each other.

But pupils at a London school have been stopped from showing similar camaraderie - because handshakes, high-fives and hugs have all been banned in a bid to beat bullying.

The Quest Academy, in Croydon, London, is putting children into detention for flouting the dictat which parents have slammed as 'extreme' and 'ludicrous'.

Anita Chong, whose 15-year-old daughter Dayna was given a detention for cuddling a female friend, said she had 'never heard of anything so crazy in my life'.

The 33-year-old, from nearby New Addington, told The Sun: 'If the kids can't even hug each other at school some of them will never learn how to be socially interactive.

'School is supposed to be where we start teaching our children how to be social - shaking hands, hugging, opening up. You need an embrace to comfort you when things go wrong,' she added.

Bad example: Children at The Quest Academy have been banned from copying David Cameron and Barack Obama's high-fiving antics

Year Ten pupil Dayna said the 800-pupil secondary school was trying to turn its pupils 'into robots' after she was forced to sit on her own during a break because of the incident.

Fellow mother Sarah Hope said her 15-year-old daughter had similarly been punished for high-fiving a friend.

Principal Andy Crofts defended the rule: 'We have established the highest standards of appearance and personal behaviour amongst its student body.

'This creates a disciplined environment which is essential for learning and respect, which are also important life skills. 

'The progress that these conditions allow is already self evident and essential for the continuing improvement of our Academy.'

And he added: 'Physical contact between students is not allowed at the Academy because it is often associated with poor behaviour or bullying and can lead to fighting, which are now all virtually unheard of at the Quest Academy.'

Change of status: The Quest Academy, formerly known as Selsdon High School, in Croydon, London, has banned children from physical contact