The kid didn't have to hit himself hard enough to give himself a headache. That was the point. The teacher was trying to get him to hit the drum softer.
Besides, who hasn't tapped themself on the head with a soft mallet?
I see his point, I think the school over reacted.
Is this going to have any impact on soccer coaches?
I’ve done stuff like this in class myself, if you put the pressure on yourself you are more able to check pressure or such.
I remember I had a child standing next to me who kept turning the wrong way. I put my hand on the side of his shoulder and LIGHTLY guided him to stand in the right place. He started yelling, you hurt me, you hurt me!
Needless to say I’ve never touched a student since, but I think there may be certain opportunities lost because of that.
And I remember several times in classes when we were told to touch ourselves in ways so we could measure things (I teach science). Any class where you deal with mechanical things this may happen.