Students who lock lips in the hallways of Winnipeg's Sisler High School have been warned: if that friendly peck gets too passionate, they couldbe sent home or even suspended.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, vice-principal Mike Kachmar announced the smooching ban over the school's public address system .

He says students are expected to treat each other with courtesy and respect, and that doesn't include passionate embracing in the hall.

"School is a place of business and we expect students to act and behave accordingly," Kachmar says.

Kachmar says he made the announcement after receiving complaints about a few students whose intense kissing was making others uncomfortable.

Jeffrey Besyk is in Grade 12. He says he has never witnessed a problem in Sisler's hallways, and he says the school shouldn't regulate what students do when they're not in class.

"Class is for learning, as the principals say, but when it comes to our breaks, those are our time, and I think we should be able to do what we want," says Besyk.

Kissing has a long history in Western civilization, with references dating back to the Old Testament.

The ancient Greeks and Romans Early Christians greeted one another with a kiss, and this "holy kiss" is still a part of Roman Catholic rituals, such as when a bishop kisses a newly ordained priest. Medieval knights were kissed after being knighted, and the custom of kissing the bride remains almost universal in Western marriage ceremonies.

Until the 20th century, kissing was rarely practiced in East Asia, where bowing was the all-purpose form of greeting, and kissing was left for private moments.

1. Whom or what the smooching ban over the school's public address system did vice-principal Mike Kachmar announce?