Growing shortage of male teachers

[kootenayguy9]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Men in the education system get the proverbial shaft all the time. I would never want to be a teacher. Long hours (the work is way longer than school bell to school bell), low pay compared to other professionals and the constant threat of accusations of impropriety whether you did something or not. Plus, you get the added bonus of additional cattiness that comes from a female dominated profession. If I were forced to be a teacher I'd probably put a bullet in my head before the year was out.

Honestly I love my job being a high school teacher and I am not sure if I would want any other job other than being a full time NHL colourman. I sent the link to my Principal and he wrote back to me saying

"Again, my proposition is that since we are an endangered species, we should be paid more…"

I had a good chuckle over that one.

[CaptainCrunch]

Does she walk? Does she talk?
Does she come complete?
My homeroom homeroom angel
Always pulled me from my seat

She was pure like snowflakes
No one could ever stain
The memory of my angel
Could never cause me pain

Years go by I'm lookin' through a girly magazine
And there's my homeroom angel on the pages in-between

CHORUS:
My blood runs cold
My memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold
Angel is the centerfold
(Repeat)

Slipped me notes under the desk
While I was thinkin' about her dress
I was shy I turned away
Before she caught my eye

I was shakin' in my shoes
Whenever she flashed those baby-blues
Something had a hold on me
When angel passed close by

Those soft and fuzzy sweaters
Too magical to touch
Too see her in that negligee
Is really just too much

CHORUS

It's okay I understand
This ain't no never-never land
I hope that when this issue's gone
I'll see you when your clothes are on

Take you car, Yes we will
We'll take your car and drive it
We'll take it to a motel room
And take 'em off in private

A part of me has just been ripped
The pages from my mind are stripped
Oh no, I can't deny it
Oh yea, I guess I gotta buy it!

[Locke]

Where is Howie in this thread? I know hes a teacher.

[Superflyer]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I know I would never want to be a teacher in North America. Not with the way everyone is tried in the media before they even make it into a courtroom.

Wasn't it just last year that someone's wife was murdered here in Calgary and the police brought the husband in for questioning... the next day his picture was on the front page of the Sun proclaiming "Man Arrested for Murdering Wife." He was later released after his alibi checked out, and they went on to find the real culprit... but there was never anything on the front page of the Sun to say he was innocent.

I can just imagine giving some girl a D on a half-assed assignment, only to have her lie to her parents about some made-up story of trying to force her into something. I'd be all over every front page in the province (and even some outside the province) proclaiming me as psychotic child-molester... up until my trial when my lawyer gets her to admit she lied and made it all up. Then there would be a nice little tiny paragraph on page 16 in the two local papers here in the city saying, "Remember that guy we had on the front page 2 years ago who we thought raped that little schoolgirl? Turns out he didn't do it."

Yeah. Sign me up to be a male teacher in this society please.


Edit: That came out a lot more condescending and paranoid that I had intended, but I think it gets the point across.

This is pretty much the same thing that happened to my uncle. He was a teacher back east and after giving a girl a bad mark on a paper she said that he came onto her and started touching her.
Well the news got wind of this and it was on the TV news and in the papers. His house got vanadlized and he could not go out without people yelling profanities at him and getting shunned.
Well just before it went to trial she admited that she lied, but of course that was never covered in the media and people still treated him like crap. He wound up having to move to a new province. He has not worked as a teacher since.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

This is pretty much the same thing that happened to my uncle. He was a teacher back east and after giving a girl a bad mark on a paper she said that he came onto her and started touching her.
Well the news got wind of this and it was on the TV news and in the papers. His house got vanadlized and he could not go out without people yelling profanities at him and getting shunned.
Well just before it went to trial she admited that she lied, but of course that was never covered in the media and people still treated him like crap. He wound up having to move to a new province. He has not worked as a teacher since.

People suck.

[Gozer]

[Locke]

Its not just teachers, there was a huge issue this season for anyone coaching Minor Soccer, regardless of age group or gender.

If it hadnt been for the parents of the kids I coach to approach me and encourage me to continue I would have quit this season and never looked back.

Even then, I'm still taking a huge risk and am doubtful about coaching outdoor.

The potential damage to a person's reputation for doing nothing at all is staggering.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

CHORUS:
My blood runs cold
My memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold
Angel is the centerfold
(Repeat)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx6t11D99tA

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Locke

Its not just teachers, there was a huge issue this season for anyone coaching Minor Soccer, regardless of age group or gender.

If it hadnt been for the parents of the kids I coach to approach me and encourage me to continue I would have quit this season and never looked back.

Even then, I'm still taking a huge risk and am doubtful about coaching outdoor.

The potential damage to a person's reputation for doing nothing at all is staggering.

This is what I don't understand. Who is causing this 'risk'?
I'm sure the kids love playing the game and having you as a coach.
As you mentioned, the parents of these kids are encouraging you to continue so they view you as a trustworthy.

A soccer team consists of what? 20 kids?

How is it even possible that you could be in any sort of trouble at all.
Who you pull the fire alarm on you?

[Sainters7]

I've got a year left before I'm done my teaching degree and then I'm out in the field as well. In my EDFX(Edu. Field Experience) class in my first year, our prof(who's a guy) actually spent 20 minutes one day telling the boys that if we end up teaching grade 11 or 12 one day, we really need to watch ourselves. He told us especially as younger guys, that you may find a class where alot of the girls, especially those up front, can dress quite skimpy, and he couldn't emphasize the point enough that we CAN'T LOOK.

Afterwards, me and a buddy in that class went for beers with a couple girls from there and the two girls were saying how gross they thought that conversation was. We disagreed, we said he was just tellin it like it is. I'm actually glad I decided to go back to school, so I'll be graduating and in the field at 26-27. I can't imagine being 21 or 22 and having to teach girls who were 18, that'd be interesting.

[brownstown24]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

This is what I don't understand. Who is causing this 'risk'?
I'm sure the kids love playing the game and having you as a coach.
As you mentioned, the parents of these kids are encouraging you to continue so they view you as a trustworthy.

A soccer team consists of what? 20 kids?

How is it even possible that you could be in any sort of trouble at all.
Who you pull the fire alarm on you?

If you are even asking the question of "what risk?" then you have obviously never had any experience coaching/working with children. Every time you have any sort of interaction like this you are taking a risk, the people who do this in good faith should be rewarded much more than they are!

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by brownstown24

If you are even asking the question of "what risk?" then you have obviously never had any experience coaching/working with children. Every time you have any sort of interaction like this you are taking a risk, the people who do this in good faith should be rewarded much more than they are!

Well I'm a girl! so obviously I can't put myself in the shoes of you guys who are at risk of sneaky/selfish girls and parents. I don't have much experience other than volunteering for some afterschool programs such as sports and tutoring. Never had a problem.

My assumption is that if the kids all like you and the parents all like you how can there be a problem? I'm I being too naive in 2008?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Well I'm a girl! so obviously I can't put myself in the shoes of you guys who are at risk of sneaky/selfish girls and parents. I don't have much experience other than volunteering for some afterschool programs such as sports and tutoring. Never had a problem.

My assumption is that if the kids all like you and the parents all like you how can there be a problem? I'm I being too naive in 2008?

As Spiderman said to Peter Griffin after saving his life, everyone gets one.

All it takes is one girl, or one woman or one bad person willing to play games, and you might as well vanish from the face of the earth.

[BCReefer]

I coach my sons team age 8 and 9 and we all have to meet in the beginning of the season to talk about things to expect. I never thought of some of these issues since I rough house with the boys while we practice etc.

I also teach adult education and we were told (all instructors) to never, ever, ever touch someone even their shoulders etc.

I ref womens soccer and again, you never ever touch them, even though they sometimes put their hands on your shoulders. When you ref them for years they get to know you and you become soccer friends.

In the work place where I am, it is about 65% women and some wear skirts that are "high", I sometimes wonder if this is just fashion or do they like to be looked at, as long as you don't stare or make lewed remarks???

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

This is what I don't understand. Who is causing this 'risk'?
I'm sure the kids love playing the game and having you as a coach.
As you mentioned, the parents of these kids are encouraging you to continue so they view you as a trustworthy.

A soccer team consists of what? 20 kids?

How is it even possible that you could be in any sort of trouble at all.
Who you pull the fire alarm on you?

I'd have thought that too, but unfortunately it happened in the age group and gender of the kids I'm coaching but at a different club, but it was a serious offence and it put all coaches under the microscope.

Not worth it.

Originally Posted by brownstown24

If you are even asking the question of "what risk?" then you have obviously never had any experience coaching/working with children. Every time you have any sort of interaction like this you are taking a risk, the people who do this in good faith should be rewarded much more than they are!

I hear that.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Well I'm a girl! so obviously I can't put myself in the shoes of you guys who are at risk of sneaky/selfish girls and parents. I don't have much experience other than volunteering for some afterschool programs such as sports and tutoring. Never had a problem.

My assumption is that if the kids all like you and the parents all like you how can there be a problem? I'm I being too naive in 2008?

Unfortunately I think so. I remember being about 13-14 and playing minor hockey. We always had a girl or two on our teams, as did most other teams. I don't know if you played youth hockey or not, but coaches seem to have a penchant(I think at all levels of hockey, even the pros) to give an encouraging slap on the butt of a player to tell him/her to get out on the ice. Apparently one of the coaches on another team was doing this(as all coaches do) and did it to the girl on the team(I'm sure he wasn't even thinking about what he was doing), and it became a big stink among the parents. I think he actually ended up leaving the team in mid-season, its pretty crazy how touchy some people can be.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

So even when it is grown, it is still short?

Please... I have size 14 feet. You know what they say about guys with big feet....

... big shoes.

...tiny unit

[Howie_16]

Originally Posted by Locke

Where is Howie in this thread? I know hes a teacher.

I also teach junior high, and while I can understand the paranoia, I have always felt that common sense is the best protection. Come May or June, if there are female students whose clothing is a bit on the skimpy side, it is quite easy to get a female collegue to talk to the kid about what they are wearing. As well, in junior high they still look like little girls anyway. Perhaps it would be different in high school or post secondary, but it is not an issue for me.

The thing that I consciously avoid is putting myself in situations where I am alone with a student, male or female, for any extended amount of time. I also keep the classroom door open at all times. I have often joked with friends that my number one goal is to stay off of the cover of tomorrow's Herald.

I have also observed just how much better some students respond to a male teacher. Parents have told me that their children's favourite teachers are often men.

[jammies]

What does it say about Canadian/American attitudes when even casual, non-sexual physical contact between people is dangerous because your intentions can be misconstrued and you can be branded a sexual criminal for it?

It's the ultimate triumph of the narcissistic philosophy: every precious one of us is a perfect jewel that must be treated as such, inviolate and untouched. It is another expression of the misguided impulse that puts people into gated communities to "keep crime down", that drives them around in SUVs because they are "safer", that enforces draconian drug laws to "save the children", that enforces de facto apartheid in the name of "equality", and thinks up all sorts of other stupidities that seek to maximize the illusion of social stability and justice.

One day there will be a backlash against all this foolishness, and it'll look as ridiculous and ultimately pointless as all the other witchhunts through the ages. I can only hope it happens sooner rather than later.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by jammies

One day there will be a backlash against all this foolishness, and it'll look as ridiculous and ultimately pointless as all the other witchhunts through the ages. I can only hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Alright, fairly intense, but I understand where you're coming from.

Look past teachers for a moment, even though they are by far more important, I am not one and cannot speak for them.

Volunteers. My parents have been volunteers forever. My mom volunteered for the 88 Olympics here in Calgary. They've instilled that volunteering spirit into me.

I'm becoming afraid to volunteer my time because every single interaction with any kid is scrutinized intensely for any wisp or hint of mis-doing.

Why is this worth my time? I'm half-tempted to just say, to hell with you people and your kids, sort it out yourself, I'll spend my time at work getting paid for my time or out with my friends having fun.

I think this is a huge problem not to mention myself and the people I volunteer with have undergone police checks and record checks at our own expense.