Is this really what we’ve come to? Earlier this week, 6-year-old Lexington, N.C., native Johnathan Prevette expressed his friendship toward a female first-grade classmate with a kiss on the cheek.

A sweet notion, we’d say, one fraught with innocence, a childhood glow and maybe even a little old-fashioned chivalry. By all accounts, this was one of those peck-on-the-cheek silly little things that kids do.

Kids, in their exuberance and innocence, are often prone to showing signs of affections, be it a hug, a kiss, or what have you.

But instead of smiling warmly on little Johnathan’s affection, school officials threw him out of class, took away his color time and wouldn’t let him go to an ice cream party he’d earned because of good attendance (the elementary equivalent of suspension).

Come on. In our rush to insulate ourselves from any display of affection out of fear that it could constitute sexual harassment, we’ve lost the point.

Under no circumstances are we making light of any type of sexual harassment at any level. It is a behavior that shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone for any reason. Certainly, women (or girls in this case) shouldn’t be subject to unwanted sexual advances. There is no place for that in a civilized society.

But we’re talking about first-graders. First-graders do from time to time give each other kisses on the cheek, and so what? Would we rather they bottle up their emotions until they become socially inept? Hardly.

Would we rather little Johnathan express himself by bringing a gun to school? Or maybe kicking and hitting the little girl he gave the peck on the cheek? Doubt it.

What kind of message does Johnathan’s punishment send? That sexual harassment is intolerable? Or that we should fear sincere social interaction as dangerous and taboo?

Let’s keep our overbearing political correctness crap in the “adult sphere,” and for God’s sake, let Johnathan go to his ice cream party.