I have many teachers and teaching assistants come to me for Reiki for stress management. They have a lot of concerns in the way they are now being watched and the way they are just helping the kids.
An example is not allowing physical touching of a child. This is something I have had to comfort many teachers and teaching assistants in my clinic with. It is due to a UK law which says that the teacher or teaching assistant cannot physically touch the child. I have heard a lot of discontent about the way this law is affecting the well-being of children. I cite below some examples.
A teacher was confronted with a boy whose mother had just been taken to the hospital with a serious condition. There was no father. The child was crying uncontrollably. The teacher just wanted to give the boy a hug. The girl tried to hug the teacher, but she is legally not allowed to respond. She felt totally helpless and she had to watch the child cry and cry and cry until a relative arrived. I gave the teacher an idea of what to do next time that didn’t involve touching the child, and helped her release her stress with the Reiki session. However, this need for children to be touched is still not addressed.
Another example is a Physical Education teacher, who had to give gymnastics classes and other sports where the child may have to be protected from a fall. He informed me that he has to tell the child each time that if the child is in danger of serious injury, he would like permission to touch the child to prevent a bad fall. He has to get the hat’s permission every time, and if the kid says no, he just has to let the kid fall and get hurt if necessary. Ideally, he would try to get the child to play a different sport.
On one hand, I can see the wisdom of this law. Therefore, any inappropriate touching does not have to be tested. Touching itself is illegal, so there is no need to further distress the child if he has been touched inappropriately, with cross-examination by defense attorneys. On the other hand, children need contact and comfort.
I can see an answer. If each school had two approved Reiki practitioners, with all the necessary controls for working with children, then that Reiki practitioner can work by touching the child, even if only on the hands. There may be a camera in the treatment room at all times, for added protection. A genuinely qualified Reiki practitioner can bring the children who need contact, at which time the children can receive the comfort of contact. Reiki can also be done in the aura, just above the body, so the warm sensation of a touch can be experienced without touching.
Just a thought and hope for the children in UK schools.