Irish expat, I've been a teacher of children here 20 years. If I, as a male, didn't touch the children, the parents would wonder what was my problem. What is the UK's problem that it has gone bizarre over this "touch" hysteria? It is wrong. Just look at your statistics.

Tom McGuire, Castellon, Spain

This article highlights an important problem which is rarely discussed. I am working in junior high schools in Japan and the sitution is far different here. Teachers and students are not afraid to touch one another. The result: Delightful children and a school atmosphere with a family-like feel.

Richard, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan/England

It's not quite as ridiculous in Canada, but it's certainly getting there. Let's hope this is a phase and the next generation of parents realize how ridiculous it is. I'll be having kids in a few years and I will NOT be teaching them to be afraid of everything!

Greg, Calgary, Canada

I helped out in my daughter's class several times. The teacher could not have been less gracious, unwelcoming and hostile. There were a couple of other helpers - a mother and a grandmother - who were very welcoming and said how pleased they were to see a male helper for a change. Never again.

Martin, Hove, Uk

"They think the streets are full of terrorists, murderers and child-abductors. .. They are white, male, middle-aged, wear horrible clothes and have a funny look in their eyes."
I thought they'd been told all terrorists were Muslim and child-abductors were swarthy egg-men who left no physical trace..

JM, Koeln,

I was at a 'soft play' centre with my 3 year old son a few weeks ago. At the top of the large climbing area there was a girl of about 3 in floods of tears wanting her mummy - I took her and my son straight down the exit slide, but on the way down thought "I hope her parents don't see me". Tragic.

Karl, Wirral,

Unfortunately, all it takes is one well publicised child abduction, abuse and muder to create paranoia. It's pointless trying to allay fears with statistics because every incident is one too many!! The real enemy is the soul-less state that disempowers and controls its people through fear.

DavidP, Surrey, UK

As a trainee lawyer I volunteerd to work in a primary school for a day. One of the children said I touched and hit him. I was so overwhlemed I vomitted. My life flashed before my eyes - literally. The headmaster told me "oh, he always says that, don't worry". The most frightening moment of my life.

PSF, London, UK

i carry on just as i always have, i won't be beaten by Labour propaganda. if i saw a lone child wondering around i'd stop and speak to them. i hold my nieces' hands when i take them out. if anyone has a problem with that it's their problem. i'm not a paedo and i won't be treated as one

mike, sheffield,

The irony is that the vast majority of molestation occurs within families, so the keeping of strangers away is missing the point, or at least most of it. I also think of the subtle effects that happen when all men are treated as possible pedophiles has on the consciousness of kids.

Michael , Miami Beach, USA

Removing all risk does not keep children safe; it simply prevents them from being able to assess risk.
Nothing makes me more angry than schools' constant Stranger Danger teaching - it scares kids to death and OF THE WRONG PEOPLE. I take the opposite approach and teach my children to think.

Morag, Maidstone,

I think this isn't so common in other countries. I used to hug my grade 2 teacher in Canada and there was nothing strange about it. She used to hug every student in class, she was just a very warm friendly person. I read this article and I am truly baffled by it. Do places really exist like this?

Steve, Calgary, Canada

there is a touch of urban myth about this piece; nothing at all positive and despite my concerns about the way British society is going I still see evidence of old fashioned care. And maybe those of us who feel strongly must keep fighting rather than simply lamenting.

JR, Llandeilo,

I used to work with youth all the time, until a camping trip when one of kids parents were not home when we came back. ( they had gone to the beach!). I realized I could lose everything I owned own. Never again. I am not being a baby sitter for irresponsible or uncaring parents. Very sad .

Tom, asheville nc, usa

In my late 40's (in UK) when training to be a cricket coach I was warned off for "comforting" a boy who had been hit by a ball........ Due to this, the CRB and similar, I have never used my qualification to coach. There are many like me I am sure - cricket, football, Sunday School, Scouts.....

Steve, Kigali, Rwanda

Heck, I'm a *woman* who lives in the US and I'm terrified to be anywhere near other people's children, let alone speak to them and God forbid touch them, lest I be hauled away to jail and be a social pariah for the rest of my life for something that somebody else only thought I did.

Meg, Rome, USA

didn't that one smart guy say... "we having nothing to fear, but fear itself"

sam , winder, GA, USA

Ben makes a good point about male role models. It's reached the point where a dad can't hold his child's hand in public. Men are moved if they find themselves sitting next to an unrelated child on a plane. No wonder there are now hardly any male primary teachers. Demonizing men is ruining sociey.

DMC, Tokyo, Japan

Can't you all see this was the goal? The government both UK and US work with the media to poison our brains with fear where we are too crippled to function as a society should. This article spoke to me, Im 22 male and live in the US. I find myself uncomfortable just being around kids.

Brian, Parkersburg, US

I used to be a substitute teacher. I was randomely assigned to classes. You should have seen the looks I got when I was assigned to teach kindergarten gym for the day. With all the stares I felt like a criminal. I wanted to scream I didn't ask for this , I'm not some pedo.

Joe, Jeffersonville, USA

It's not the "world", but the United States. Folks in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere still comfort children and hold them, even if they're not the parents. We're the ones with the problems. I see folks holding and caring for kids all the time where I live here in Michigan. I am not afraid.

chub, Clinton Township, USA

True but sometimes we cant blame people when all they hear about is senseless crimes. Like it or not, we still have to admit that the media is just carrying on its task: conveying the truth. Horrible things do happen and who knows the consequences may be immeasurable if we turn a blind eye.

amanda, singapore,

Britain may be stupid in this. But fortunately the rest of Europe is quite sensible about it. Normal human contact is not taboo, and if people take risks and occasionally get hurt , tough luck.

tom, chorley,

We wonder why our children are forming gangs etc. They are desperate for male role models and they find them not in schools or volunteer clubs, but on the streets. There are no CRB checks for these people.

Ben, Huddersfield, Japan,

Great piece...I feel that the problem stems from people not being media literate...seeing a report of something horrible and then assuming that this happens everywhere. Oh and watching the news every night doesn't help...b/c if you hear something enough, you will begin to believe it.

Evan, Santa Barbara, USA

:) I am so happy about this article. I feel it is so true and there is too much fear in the world.

Roy Boden, Davis, United States

I agree that "no touch" has gone too far. Our church had a "seminar" for Sunday school teachers and assistants. Assistants? Right, because no one should be alone with a child! What if a toddler has to go to the toilet? One suggestion was that the teacher take another child in also!

Dorian Borsella, Fallston, Md., USA

I'm 46. I was never hugged by a teacher or touched by anyone that I can remember ( apart from being caned by my art teacher). Is it just that am between the age-group that was (apparently) constantly being hugged, and the age-group that was denied this pleasure (due to the modern world, etc.) ?

beech, hornsea,

Didn't one of the phone companies abandon the slogan "Reach out and touch someone." because they were concerned about law suits if anyone misunderstood or took the slogan too far?
Law suits have become a way of life and it's a shame. It's the 98% or attorneys that give the rest a bad name.

Rowena, Las Vegas, US

This all stems from a single guiding principle: that safety is always paramount. In fact it isn't; exposure to risk is essential for children to develop into adults who can take care of themselves and others.

Adam, London, UK

TRUE!
I live in East Eur.{Slovakia)where people do not have the hang-ups about touching.Children still play outdoors & life is not regulated to the most ridiculous degree.In Britain, nowadays,I fear, children are being raised unnaturally-the UK needs again discipline& to learn from other cultures.

Conrad Riepl, Banska Bystrica, Slovkia

One of my most memorable moments is when my RE teacher gave me a great big long hug in the classroom. We were on our own - and I was very upset. I was 15 and she was in her 50's. Nothing else happened. I was respected and felt loved & comforted. She was a REAL teacher.

Barry Johnston, Sheffield, United Kingdom

You do realise what drives this? NOT the feministas, it's the bloody lawyers again...
Aided and abetted by the politicians - who pass ridiculous laws at the whinge of a left wing liberal.
Could we please turn off the hairsplitting and nanny-dom, and turn back on common sense and genuine compassion

Chris, St Leonards-on-sea, UK

People feel obliged to demand CRB checks even when they are totally inappropriate because they fear the consequences of not doing so. This is litigation panic. It significantly cripples volunteer-led activities. In the end, refusing to accept and manage risk impoverishes us all.

richard, horley, UK

Touch is all about trust. People are moving farther and farther away from the social interaction that brings about trust. The more time we spend away from people, the more we start to fear and misunderstand them, making it ever harder to socialize properly. Technology is a two-edged sword...

Don, Reno,

This has to change. This is what happens when you let lawyers run our institutions. As I told many lawyers before, if we allow them to tell us how to run our business, none us would be do business. Giving basic human care... that's exactly where we need them the least.

Deline, Washington DC, USA

I live in the US, and it seems to me that things aren't quite as bad here as described in this article, but I can see things heading that way. I think this paranoia is getting a bit out of hand when you can't hug someone.

Eric, Bend, Oregon, USA

The net result of the so-called "Women's movement" that resurfaced in the 1990s just turned women into guaranteed victims. Like whites have white guilt, now men have male guilt and are terrified of questioning the authenticity of the claims that are made. This article missed the boat by about 15yr

Mark, New York,

I'm from Texas, and I know that my teachers in elementary school never had a problem giving me a hug or anything of that nature, although some of the symptoms the author described are applicable in the U.S. as well. Perhaps this problem is worse in the U.K.?

David, Austin, TX., US

That is so deep rooted in the American and British culture that I don't think it is going away for a long time.
Individualism has its disadvantages and that is one, a cocktail of isolation, fear and superficiality.

Daniel, Madrid, Spain