Correcting children’s physical and mental well-being requires various approaches in schools and families. For example, the article by Cekaite and Bergnehr (2018) titled “Affectionate touch and care: Embodied intimacy, compassion, and control in early childhood education” discusses one of the ways to improve children’s wellness in the early classroom. The article was published in European Early Childhood Education Research Journal on pages 940-955. The study demonstrated positive changes after implementing affectionate comforting touch in regulating children’s distress. Therefore, the authors suggest that physical contact in early childhood classrooms is beneficial for young children’s emotional and physical well-being.
The article states that touch is one of the fundamental forms of non-verbal communication essential for displaying empathy. However, most current educational policies recommend no-touch training in schools to prevent physical abuse (Cekaite & Bergnehr, 2018). Since previous research demonstrated a tremendous advantage of touch in reducing anxiety, tension, and arousal, the authors aimed to investigate the effect of contact in Swedish classrooms for children aged 1-5 using video recordings. The paper describes three types of affectionate touch used by the educators in the school: comforting, amicable, and controlling. The results showed that caring touch was perceived positively by the children. Moreover, the authors claim that touch techniques in early childhood education help establish trust, control behavior, and handle difficult situations. However, I think the limitation of this study is that it conducted one 24-hour video recording that increases the chance of observer bias and the Hawthorne effect. Still, I agree with the authors that physical contact should be an essential component of pre-school education because children may lack the vocabulary to understand verbal explanations. Thus, physical contact should be used to minimize their stress and maintain safety.
To summarize, this article discussed the importance of affectionate touch in maintaining young children’s emotional well-being and physical safety in Swedish pre-school. The study design involved 24-hour video recording of daily activities, which demonstrated the positive influence of touch on children who needed emotional support or encouragement. Although the study might be subject to the Hawthorne effect and observer bias, I think that young children lack the proper vocabulary to express their needs and understand adults. Therefore, affectionate touch can be a helpful method to show empathy.
Reference
Cekaite, A., & Bergnehr, D. (2018). Affectionate touch and care: Embodied intimacy, compassion and control in early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(6), 940-955. Web.