We need more men.......

I was disappointed to read that men are less likely to go into Childcare because of the possibility of being labeled a Peadophile.  This not only shocks me to the core but also worries me that we live in such a narrow minded society.

It stated that it wasn't the other childcare professionals that they were worried would pass judgement but the wider society.  I ask you, what would you think if you took your children to nursery and were told their 'Keyworker' was a man?

I would like to think that most parents would be welcoming and professional with males within a setting and not automatically jump to any wrong conclusions.

Children who access nurseries deserve to have the best holistic care that can be provided by the setting.  Children should have positive male role models in their lives, for some children, the men in the setting would be the only male role models they have.

I like to think that we, as a society, would not pass judgement on men who choose to make childcare their profession.  We don't after all pass judgement on men who work within primary schools.... what is the difference?

I used to teach childcare and as the years we went on more and more young men decided to take up the career.  These young men were keen to do their best for the children in their care and wanted to make a success of their careers.  Yes, they got ridiculed by their friends for doing 'a womens job' and being 'puffs', but they stuck to it and the nurseries, parents and children embraced them.

The young men were very keen to learn how to protect themselves from allegations of abuse and this was sad.  Why should these young men, who have done nothing wrong AND have been through a CRB check with no history of any offences, be keen to learn how to protect themselves?  It just shows exactly where we are nowadays and how judgmental some of us are.

Lest we forget that more recently some women have been arrested and charged with children's sexual offences.  It is NOT just men who abuse children.

Men should be embraced in childcare, they give our children different experiences for bonding and relationship building and provide those with no male role models the one thing they need.