This book explores the problems involved in touching children in an educational environment. It uses real-life examples taken from groundbreaking research into the mentality of today s risk culture, and highlights a maddening state of affairs in which ordinary well-meaning professionals feel they cannot offer even very young children basic levels of comforting or affection.

This fascinating and long-overdue book examines the no-touch pandemic in early years settings, by use of extensive interviews with practitioners, parents and pupils, which:

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The Anglophone world is gripped by a moral panic centred on child abuse in general and fear of the paedophile in particular. Evidence suggests an alarming rise in the number of false allegations of sexual abuse being made against teachers, and demonstrates that the fallout from being falsely accused is far-reaching and sometimes tragic. Many people in this position cannot sustain family relationships, have breakdowns, and are often unable to return to the classroom when their ordeal is over.

Researching Sex and Lies in the Classroom draws on in-depth qualitative research...

In our increasingly risk-averse society, touch and touching behaviours between professionals and children have become a fraught issue. In sports coaching and physical education, touching young sports performers and participants has, in some contexts, come to be redefined as dubious and dangerous. Coaches find themselves operating in a framework of regulations and guidelines that create anxiety, for them and others, and for many volunteer (and sometimes professional) coaches, this fearful context has led them to question the risks and benefits of their continuing involvement in sport. Touch in...