Men in schools . . . why we need them and why they leave.
Good morning, I watched a video this morning about issues affecting boys in the US. https://youtu.be/Qi1oN1icAYc I realized, as one of the relatively rare male teachers in my schools, I might have been an asset to the boys in my classrooms. However, there are many real reasons I chose to leave that profession, at least in its current incarnation in public schools. Male teachers are encouraged to develop rapport, in the same way as female teachers. However, when students try to give them a hug they have to back away and put their hands up, try to go for a handshake instead. When we chaperone things, we have to clearly identify ourselves as such to keep people from trying to protect their children from us. As a society, I think we've become so scared of pedophiles that we've stopped men from being able to interact in a positive way with youth, at least comfortably. Every interaction is first measured by a, "could this be taken the wrong way, by anyone" scale,