In our entire preschool and elementary education, we never had a male teacher, except for gym. So it was surprising to learn that, twenty years later, there are even less male teachers now. In fact, there are less male teachers in America now than there have been at any time in the past forty years. Men are leaving the teaching profession in droves, and this great article on Babble called "Herland" (part of the Sex and Gender Issue) explains the shameful reasons why, and what an absence of male role models is doing to our kids.
The most shocking reason why men say they give up on teaching is because of the prevalent belief that any man interested in taking care of children must be a pedophile.
From the article: "In general, we have a family policy against leaving our children alone with men," wrote one "mom blogger" to a chorus of agreement from commenters. "Background checks give me very little reassurance . . . there's always a first offense and small children are easy prey.... the stigma about male childcare workers . . . is not just a stigma. It's a statistic. A child is nearly nineteen times more likely to be molested by a male than by a female. We find it easier to make a blanket policy and weed out 95% of our chances for problems."
Read the full article here.
Is anyone else appalled by this? If you want to weed out 100% of your chances for problems, you could always just put your kid in one of those hamster balls. We're all terrified of something bad happening to our kids, but we can't let that fear lead us to making irrational, harmful decisions.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. Well, the article also focuses on the fact that economics is at play. In two parent households, men still typically are the primary breadwinner, especially if the couple has children. Child care typically still falls on the mother more than the father because someone has to work. Teachers are just not paid enough, no shock there. Coupled with this is that women are still far more socialized in society to be teachers, nurses, social workers, etc. Not that all of those always pay bad, but not like being a doctor or engineer.
The "pedophile" thing did not even occur to me, although it is realistic for men to think of being accused of this.
David S. at 2:59PM on Aug 12th 2008
2. No one in their right mind, male or female, should want to be a teacher. Our education system is dominated by a "progressive" philosophy dreamed up by Jean-Jacques Rousseau over two hundred years ago. It is crazy, and has failed our nation miserably. When are we ever going to wake up and get rid of the people driving this bureaucracy?
Bob at 4:14PM on Aug 12th 2008
3. Some mommies have prejudical attitudes toward males in child care and teaching. To make the assumption that because a person is male, he is a pedophile is just wrong. I would say these women are bigots.
Val at 4:19PM on Aug 12th 2008
4. I think that is such a sad statement for being in 2008. I have been a nanny for four years. The little boy that I take care of went to preschool part time for most of those four years. He was lucky to be at a place where at least 30%-40% of the teachers and caregivers were male. I was able to witness what a good influence those men were on the boys and girls at the school. It helped the boys learn that it was ok for a male to be gentle, compassionate, caring, and accepting of all people. And it helped the girls be able to interact more comfortably with males, instead of fearing them. It would be a shame for any male to be swayed from wanting to be a teacher, just because some people are foolish enough to be distrustful of an entire gender. What does that say about how they feel about their husbands, sons, & all other male friends & acquaintances?
Natalie at 5:57PM on Aug 12th 2008
5.
A man in our community had volunteered for years with a male youth organization. While on an overnight trip, one of the boys (in the presence of other boys) asked a question concerning sex. The adult tried to answer the question truthfully and honestly.
When the boy later told his parents what the man had said, they were appalled. His answer didn't agree with their religious beliefs. Rather than contact the man or the head of the organization, they went directly to law enforcement. They claimed the man was "talking dirty" to their son and brought sexual assault charges against the man.
The local news showed film of the man being arrested and covered the story ad nausem. Finally, when the other boys were interviewed by the authorites, the charges were dropped.
This man's reputation has been utterly destroyed. He can no longer work as a youth volunteer or in any capacity with kids. Years of exemplary service have been forgotten. He has been tarred by the parents of a kid who only did what he had been told: "Ask a trusted adult."
This is why men just don't want to take the chance. One false accusation and it's over for the rest of your life, no chance for redemption.
If the only job my teenage son could get was as a babysitter, I would pay him not to work, and that's just sad.
Seen It Happen at 5:59PM on Aug 12th 2008
6. It's FEWER teachers, not LESS teachers - Ada should have paid more attention in school!!
R. Barton at 8:02PM on Aug 12th 2008
7. One of my first jobs after college was teaching kindergarden. The priniciple of the school came on to me so hard publicly that she was fired two months after I started working. I also taught in another pre-school for 2 years with exemplary service. Top notch reviews. One night the new director's brother saw me coming out of a gay bar downtoen. I lost my job immediately. Every parent in my class pulled their kids out and I was reinstated within a week. Eventually I started my own school. In 15 years there has never been a parent who complained about their childs education, my methods or my character. I refused to give up teaching because of small minded people. I was one of the lucky ones. I have had dozens of my kids (now all grown up with kids of their own) come back and tell me what an influence I had on their lives. God only knows what kind of crap will be written about this on AOL...but the truth is that most molestations come from straight men, family members or friends of the family. I would not harm a child for any reason. As I said before, I have been fortunate not to have my sexuality used against me.
kitty sinned at 11:20PM on Aug 12th 2008
8. Seems to me that the predators in the news these last few years have been females with teenage boys. And yet, one was considered "too pretty" to go to prison. Odd how I have never heard of a male deemed "too handsome" to go to prison.
mary at 11:35PM on Aug 12th 2008
9. No surprise here. Women are more caring and maternal than men, which is one of the reasons why there are more female teachers.
kulari94 at 1:46AM on Aug 13th 2008
10. The same goes for a parents too. Let's say you REALLY mad your daughter mad by breaking her up with her loser boyfriend. The next day she goes to school and tells her friends that her dad tried to touch her breasts. Before the day is out,the whole school has heard about it and the sheriff deputies take her home and question you. They take you to the police station, it's on the news, but it's a lie. There goes your job, your marriage, and your life.
Larry Cox at 2:52AM on Aug 13th 2008
11. My dad is dealing with this kind of situation right now. He was fired from his teaching job because a student accused him of "touching" her. He's a music teacher. He pressed her fingers down on the correct piano keys while teaching her how to play a piece. Girl got upset, told parents he'd "touched" her, parents got my dad fired. Girl...is failing 5 classes and got into a fight where she pulled a knife on another student, yet somehow wasn't expelled for that offense.
26 years of exemplary teaching service, all down the toilet. Even if (when) they clear him of this charge in the court (he's taking the school to court over this), he will never be able to go back to teaching simply because that accusation will always be there to haunt him.
Emily at 5:43AM on Aug 13th 2008
12. What is up with people saying that teachers don't make enough money to support a family? The average salary for a teacher in the US is $45,000. I make roughly half of that and could support my family on what I make if need be. I think teaching is a noble profession and I am currently going to school to become a teacher so I can make MORE money. So who started the rumor that teachers don't make much?
serena at 9:56AM on Aug 13th 2008
13. The problem with the accusation of molestation is that it is impossible to disprove. Accuse a person of bank robbery or murder and, unless the person has been expertly framed, it is usually pretty easy to establish actual guilt or innocence. However, the assumption of our legal system is that children do not just 'make-up' accusations of molestation. They sometimes do--and for a variety of reasons--mostly having to do with a lack of adult understanding over the consquences of such accusations and the impact on the life of the accused. Also, today's youth are less able to view themselves as being responsible for the negative consequences to others. Hence, they make a false accusation, the accused commits suicide and they see no connection!
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 9:59AM on Aug 13th 2008
14. Teaching in our culture has always been dominated by women and society has suffered for it because boys spend far too long a time under the influence of women. My memories of school are of embittered old hags who hated little boys because we were harder to discipline. Now, instead of embittered old hags, we have liberal, feminist shrews who would like nothing more than to dope the little boys into a stupor. Yes, we need more men in teaching but can you imagine what it would be like for a straight man to enter this estrogen soaked culture?
Bobber at 10:08AM on Aug 13th 2008
15. Serena:
The problem with 'averages' is that they are easily skewed and can be made to illustrate points which may--or may not be--in line with reality.
Two examples: I was listening to a radio prgram talking about global warming. The commentator was aying the oceans were rising, etc. and he illustarted his point by saying that "the continent of Antarctica was 200 square mile smaller today than just ten years ago!" Now, if you picture that, your mind's-eye shows you visions of 'Water World'. Then reason took over and I got out my dictionary, turned to the back where all the world's statistical info is kept, found the land-mass square miles for Antarctica and--knowing that there are 5,280 ft. in a mile-- subtracted 1 foot off the mathematical model. Well, that figure turned out to be MUCH more than the 200 sq, mi. figure I was looking for so I started over and subtracted a smaller amount. I kept reducing the amount I shaved off the continent until I found the number. Turns out, 200 square miles off the continent of Antarctica is less than 1/3 of an inch of 'lost' shoreline!!! This man, had used statistics--which, while true--seek to create panic for no good reason beyond selling his agenda!!
Example #2: Someone I knew criticized me that I made below avaerage stating that "the average salary in New Jersey is $48,000 a year." I said, "That may be 'the average salary in New Jersey' but, that doesn't mean that is what the average person is making." New Jersey happens to be home to soem of the highest earners in the world--skewing the 'average'. If I got a job tomorrow making a million dollars a year, the 'average' salary in my household would be $360,000 a year! How can it be indicative of the 'average' salary when two thirds of my household don't make one fifth of that??
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 10:27AM on Aug 13th 2008