Hands off! The Disappearance of Touch in the Care of Children.Richard Ri·chard , Joseph Henri Maurice Known as "Rocket." 1921-2000. Canadian hockey player. A right wing for the Montreal Canadiens (1942-1960), he led his team to eight Stanley Cup championships and was the first player to score 50 goals in a T. Johnson. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Peter Lang Lang language LANG Louisiana Army National Guard Lang Langobardian (linguistics) LANG Los Angeles Newspaper Guild , 2000. 115pp. $29.95. Parents know the importance of touch in forming a bond with their children. Appropriate use of touch would seem just as critical in a caregiving environment, but it has fallen from favor, says the author. Johnson addresses the controversy surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. the use of physical touch in professions that work with children. Through real-life real-life adj. Actually happening or having happened; not fictional: a documentary with footage of real-life police chases. stories from the field of early childhood and primary education, the author calls attention to the heated discussion of society's integration of "no touch" policies into education. The stories come from a variety of settings (e.g., preschool, primary, and university classrooms) and represent the thoughts and experiences of educators concerning the use of physical touch in the classroom. The first chapter discusses research on the effects of physical touch on animals and children, and the role of the adult in the care of children. The reader is also introduced to the no touch policy and the controversy between no touch and touch. Chapter 2 illustrates how a "moral panic Moral panic is a sociological term, coined by Stanley Cohen, meaning a reaction by a group of people based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or group, frequently a minority group or a subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. "--fueled by widespread stories about child abuse, violent children, and the threat of AIDS--have changed attitudes about adult-child interactions, resulting in these no touch policies. Despite this prevalent moral panic about touching, there are still teachers who strongly advocate for its use in the classroom. The stories shared in Chapter 4 highlight the benefits of touch. That chapter also presents findings from the Touch Research Institute in Florida, which show positive outcomes for children who are touched. In Chapter 6, the author suggests that the reader visualize the many issues of touch and no touch in adult-child interactions and reflect on how children visualize these same interactions. He also invites educators to think beyond the constraints CONSTRAINTS - A language for solving constraints using value inference. ["CONSTRAINTS: A Language for Expressing Almost-Hierarchical Descriptions", G.J. Sussman et al, Artif Intell 14(1):1-39 (Aug 1980)]. of no touch policies to create and share other alternatives that tell a different story about the gift of touch. Hands Off! is an insightful book, not only offering the author's personal reflections on the topic of touch, but also inviting those of readers. Teachers just beginning their careers will find this book particularly interesting. Reviewed by Marita Renauer, Lenexa, KS |
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