I get many teachers and teaching assistants coming to me for Reiki for stress management. They have many concerns in the way that they are now monitored and the way they are limited in their help for the children.
One example is not being allowed to physically touch a child. This is something that I have had to comfort many a teacher and teaching assistant with in my clinic. It is due to a UK law that says the teacher or teaching assistant may not physically touch the child. I have heard so much unhappiness about the way this law is affecting the well-being of the children. I cite below a few examples.
One teacher was faced with a child who had just been taken into hospital with a serious condition. There was no father. The child was crying inconsolably. The teacher wanted to just give the child a hug. The child tried to hug the teacher, but legally, she is not allowed to respond. She felt totally helpless and had to watch the child cry and cry and cry until a relative came. I did give the teacher an idea of what to do next time that did not involve touching the child, and I did help her release the 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 teach gymnastics and other sports where the child may have to be protected from a fall. She informed me that she has to tell the child every time that if the child was in danger of sustaining a serious injury, she would like permission to touch the child to prevent a bad fall. She has to get permission permission every time, and if the child says no, she has to simply let the child fall and be injured if need be. Ideally, she would try and get the child to do a different sport.
On the one hand, I can see the wisdom of this law. Because of it, any inappropriate touching does not have to be proven. Touching per se is illegal, and so there is no need to disturb the child further if they have been inappropriately touched, with questioning by the Defense lawyers. On the other hand, children need touch and comfort.
I can see an answer. If every school had two approved Reiki Practitioners, with all the necessary checks to work with children, then that Reiki Practitioner can work by touching the child, even if just on the hands. There can be a camera in the treatment room at all times, for further protection. A genetically qualified Reiki Practitioner can be brought the children that need touch, and at that the children can be given the comfort of touch. Reiki can also be done in the aura, just above the body, so the warm feeling of a touch can be experienced without the need for touch.
Just a thought, and a hope for the children in the UK schools.