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By Jon Morgan Schools should proclaim themselves
to be "touching schools" where the touching of young children was
encouraged, a "We need teachers and schools
to get together and say, `Enough of this rubbish -- regardless of a climate
of fear and mistrust, we can be trusted not to abuse your children',"
Sarah Farquhar said. "We have got to get away from
this moral panic, reinforced every time the Peter Ellis case is mentioned in
the media." Ellis was convicted of abusing children at Dr Farquhar said fear of being
accused of child abuse was so strong among both male and female teachers that
they rarely touched pupils. Examples were: * A child who fell and hurt herself
in the playground was not touched by a teacher till another adult was
present. * A five-year-old girl who
wandered into a classroom at lunchtime seeking an adult's company was told to
leave because the teacher was frightened of being found alone with her. * A child who leaned against a
teacher's knee while she was reading a story was told to move away. * A small boy who kissed a teacher
on the cheek out of affection was told, "we don't do that". * Male teachers said they never
held children's hands and were careful not to touch children when they leaned
over them to check work. Dr Farquhar said a teacher had
told her that the only time she would touch a child was if she had the
child's permission first. "What happens when you have a
situation of one child hurting another? Do you say, `Look, I need to hold you
tight to stop you hurting this girl, is that okay?' "Is this the values we want
children to grow up with? "How will they feel about
touching as adults? It could affect their relationships later in life if they
view any touching as bad, as abuse." She criticised the primary school
teachers' union, the New Zealand Educational Institute, for ruling that
teachers must not touch their pupils. Union secretary Joanna Beresford
said teachers were advised not to touch children, except when absolutely
necessary, and then only if another adult was present. "It is regrettable that has
to be our advice. We have had instances where completely innocent actions
have been misconstrued, accusations have been made to the police and teachers
have been put through gruelling processes," she said. Dr Farquhar said the Education
Ministry and union had to tell teachers it was all right to touch children
appropriately. The no-touch policy, designed to prevent abuse, was causing
neglect. "It means teachers are not
responding appropriately to children's emotional needs, specially at a young
age. Sometimes a simple pat on the back can say more than a thousand words .
. . and children respond to that physical contact." |
