Feelings of guilt from younger years

Many years ago now, just over two decades in fact, I was 16 or 17 and did some work in a primary school as part of my interest in becoming a teacher. Whilst helping out there and also whilst I babysat a kid, I encouraged them to poke my belly (two children in total) - I honestly don't know what was going through my head. I know that it is totally inappropriate although at the time I was oblivious and it took a good few many years of looking back to realize how outrageously I behaved.

I know my timing is a little weird, but ever since the revelations about Harvey Weinstein I have been thinking about the way in which men with power act and realise that at the time I fell into that spectrum; Although not technically or legally an adult, I was a person in a position of trust who abused it. I do want to re-iterate that I did not decide to go into the teaching profession and that I have no attraction whatsoever toward children. I don't think my intention at the time was a sexual one, but it was tied in to my sexuality - in my adult life my weight has been dangerously low and I am now at a point where I'm overweight, but I was a very late developer, only exploring masturbation by the time I was 19 going on 20. My size is a part of my sexuality focused on myself, not on others.

It only happened a few times and nothing has happened like it since, but I do feel awful that it may have deeply affected the kids. One of the kids was very upset at the time - afterwards I chose not to babysit him anymore and although I went on to two different schools for more work experience, nothing like it happened again. I also want to be mindful of my feelings regarding it and to strike that balance between not letting guilt consume me but also not being flippant and completely consigning it to history. I feel like I need to have some kind of lesson from this, be it a specific or broad one in nature.

It's difficult to fully address because I can't really confide in anybody that I know as I'm worried that their first thoughts will go straight to pedophilia. I'd really appreciate any feedback from anyone.

As you note, you were still a kid yourself. Kids, teens in particular, are impulsive due to the changes their brains are going through. You say yourself that you were not sexually developed at that point, having never masturbated, so I'm not even sure that we should consider your behaviour sexual per se. Yes, it was a little odd and perhaps confusing for the children, but it was not a violation or even approaching molestation imho. I don't think most people could consider getting a child to poke their belly to be a terrible offence