Growing shortage of male teachers

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Locke

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.

I know where you're coming from. I could see this coming back when I was a teen and my father coached my team, with between 2 and 3 other parents for reasons that appear much more obvious now (witnesses to ensure no allegations of misconduct). It sounds like its progressing "nicely."

Even then, parents bitched at him like he was Mike Keenan... a pro coach being paid top dollar that they could vent to since Little Johnny who couldn't pass the ball to the other team, let alone anyone else didn't get to play as much as the best players, or that my dad refused to let one kid play because he was wearing WINTER BOOTS to an indoor soccer game. The community treated him even worse... they put him (and me as well) in the lowest teams because he was the only one with Lvl 1 & 2 qualifications that wasn't connected to the organization. Between those two things, he had enough and quit. Since he did, I was never on a low division team.

I was looking forward to coaching my dad's girlfriend's 10 year old son in the summer or winter (assuming he wants to play still), but with all the crap around community minor sports, idiot parents, and the grim spectre of harassment allegations destroying one's young reputation... I don't know if its such a cool idea anymore.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

I was looking forward to coaching my dad's girlfriend's 10 year old son in the summer or winter (assuming he wants to play still), but with all the crap around community minor sports, idiot parents, and the grim spectre of harassment allegations destroying one's young reputation... I don't know if its such a cool idea anymore.

I hear you man. Its hard, but its important.

Get the kid into a good club is the best advice I can give you.

If you want to coach, coach a low division. The thing about that is, you cant get too hung up on coaching the one particular kid, which is what you want. If he is in a division you can coach then great, do it and work to make him a good player and move ahead, then maybe work with him on your own time. Coaching higher divisions sucks.

I started at a low division and the parents were grateful and understanding and the club tells me I did a good job and I should move into the higher divisions.

Not a chance in hell.

I assisted a Tier 1 team. I lasted less than a third of a season. Everything you did was a mistake, and every mistake you made was a failure of the kids, the parents and the club.

The hell with that. I played Div 1 when I was a kid and I can tell you my parents were never that insane.

I was physically threatened by a father who told me that I was trying to make sure his kid failed.

At the end of the day, it simply wasnt any fun. I dont know how serious minor hockey coaches do it.

[alltherage]

Pfft that's a chick's job anyway.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Locke

I hear you man. Its hard, but its important.

Get the kid into a good club is the best advice I can give you.

If you want to coach, coach a low division. The thing about that is, you cant get too hung up on coaching the one particular kid, which is what you want. If he is in a division you can coach then great, do it and work to make him a good player and move ahead, then maybe work with him on your own time. Coaching higher divisions sucks.

I started at a low division and the parents were grateful and understanding and the club tells me I did a good job and I should move into the higher divisions.

Not a chance in hell.

I assisted a Tier 1 team. I lasted less than a third of a season. Everything you did was a mistake, and every mistake you made was a failure of the kids, the parents and the club.

The hell with that. I played Div 1 when I was a kid and I can tell you my parents were never that insane.

I was physically threatened by a father who told me that I was trying to make sure his kid failed.

At the end of the day, it simply wasnt any fun. I dont know how serious minor hockey coaches do it.

Wow... that's an interesting story.

I always thought it was the low tier teams that had bitchier parents... the typical parent who thinks their kid is outstanding, when they are so bad they make the other kids not want to show up. My dad was on the phone every night after a game explaining that some kids just can't play half a game (indoor) and defending why the top players can and do... further that its a team sport, which means their kid isn't getting special treatment and they aren't blowing games so the kid that they put zero effort into improving can play as much (or more) than kids that practiced on our own time and earned a starting role.

The higher division parents seemed to give my old man a much wider berth because they didn't want to lose (and neither did the kids). Of course, my dad didn't coach my Div 1 team, the highest team he coached was Div 2.

Getting into a good club is so important... and not just the clubs that care about their elite teams only like mine did. I played in every division, 1 through 6... I think the best experiences were Divs 2 and 3. Div 6 was only fun when I was playing with my friends... its devastating to a kid's development when they play in low skill levels, dominate, and still lose every game.

I think I'd try to have him placed in Div 3, assuming he's around my skill level (not that I was ever elite), that way he won't have to worry about the egos in Div 1, nor will he be expected to carry a team of woefully inadequate players in Div 6.

I think I might just coach him one on one and maybe pitch in should he go for it. Sad thing is, playing soccer for my whole life and coaching adults, I'd probably be more qualified than a lot of the poor buggers that do it with good intentions and face the consequences of parents vicariously living through their children.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

I always thought it was the low tier teams that had bitchier parents...

From my minor hockey (soccer may be different, I don't know) experience it was the other way around. I always played for the low-tier teams and it was pretty much mandated that the three lines rolled regardless of the situation, making it kind of hard for parents to gripe about anything.

A lot of my buddies played for the top teams and things were very different. Coaches of 10-year-olds got "fired", shouted at and called every name in the book by moms and dads. It was a totally different atmosphere.

Back to the original topic... I spent a few years working in what was essentially a private-school environment. We (the staff) worked with one kid at a time, all the time, and the only advice we were ever given was to keep our office door open. Being accused of some creepy crime was never a concern and I, probably naively, never even considered the possibility.

On a related note, when I was in grade 8 there was a girl who happened to be, umm, ahead of the game, development wise, and the science teacher would ogle her so blatantly it was about enough to make you sick. Of course we all thought it was funny at the time but now this guy would be tarred and feathered and I don't know if that's such a bad thing.

[brownstown24]

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?

In a word? Yes....

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by brownstown24

In a word? Yes....

I figured as much. This thread has been a real eye-opener for me.
I knew that kids are being treated more and more like angels these days but I never ever thought it would be at the expense of decent, hard-working people. Eventually nobody will want to work with kids at all!

[CaptainCrunch]

Having just finished my run as a volunteer football coach (Job issues killed the timing)

I can say that its a real bittersweet experience.

On the good side, I got to work with some really great kids, a lot of whom were playing football in an organized fashion. I got to coach for the most part a team of kids that weren't great (Div III) but I gave high marks for desire, and at times they did play some inpired football, but it balanced off when they played the role of fragile Freddie.

I had troubles with the headcoach because he was an outright control freak, he'd argue with everyone of my play calls and counterman me on them, then after the game, he'd apologized for stepping on my toes, then he'd do it again the next week.

I didn't really mind though, because I love football, I love the sideline atmosphere, I really loved teaching football.

There were some other things that while they didn't sour me, they made me think twice.

The parents of kids are awful, they treat the coaches like they're getting paid for the role and yell some pretty awful things from the stands. I had one mother who was 4 foot nothing get in my face after a game and give me a profanity laced tirade that would have made a CWO blush, all because I didn't play her son (A junior) more then any of the seniors on the team in the last game of the year.

The girls that hung around the team and the trainers, were practically predators. They dressed skimpy, flirted with the coaches, tried to initiate physical contact. The works.

While most of the players were good, there was a small core of players that I could do without. They didn't listen, rarely showed up at practice. ranted and raved and screamed at the coaches. We had one who loved spitting in peoples faces, and because we had a no cut policy, there wasn't much that we could do and keep our required roster size.

Would I do it again? Yeah, I think I would, like I said, I love the idea of building a football team. But I think that I would look for a better program. But yeah the good outweighed the bad, and some of the kids really make it worth while.

Like the one kid that came to us, he was struggling in school, hadn't played football before, and we made him into one of the best cornerbacks in the division, and pushed him on the academic stuff, so that he ended up going to university.

Or the skinny linebacker who didn't say a word for his junior year, and we turned the kid into a great middle linebacker and a team captain who really demanded and got respect.

Or the d-lineman who was pretty much a bully, and we got him to practically kill offensive linemen (That one not so good, because he did break a opponents leg after the opponent chopped him the play before. He swore up and down that he didn't mean to, but I'm not so sure)

Anyways, don't know if this ads to the discussion, but if you want to coach, coach, don't let politics or parents stop you. If your scared of the parents, or a inappropriate contact thing, then just make sure that your never alone with them.

But sports for kids needs good coaches, and kids need good teachers.

Just my 2 cents.

[troutman]

Young teacher, the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly
Knows what she wants to be
Inside her theres longing
This girls an open page
Book marking - shes so close now
This girl is half his age

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Her friends are so jealous
You know how bad girls get
Sometimes its not so easy
To be the teachers pet
Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry
Wet bus stop, shes waiting
His car is warm and dry

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Loose talk in the classroom
To hurt they try and try
Strong words in the staffroom
The accusations fly
Its no use, he sees her
He starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in
That book by nabakov

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXU8kCrRHJY

[troutman]

Originally Posted by fotze

Are those the actual lyrics? Heard that song a million times but never listened to the lyrics, interesting.

Creepy, eh? Sting was actually an English Teacher before he became famous.

[CaptainCrunch]

Young teacher, the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly
Knows what she wants to be
Inside her theres longing
This girls an open page
Book marking - shes so close now
This girl is half his age

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Her friends are so jealous
You know how bad girls get
Sometimes its not so easy
To be the teachers pet
Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry
Wet bus stop, shes waiting
His car is warm and dry

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Loose talk in the classroom
To hurt they try and try
Strong words in the staffroom
The accusations fly
Its no use, he sees her
He starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in
That book by nabakov

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Dont stand, dont stand so
Dont stand so close to me

Wow, Evengi Nabakov is a dirty old man!!

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by troutman

Creepy, eh? Sting was actually an English Teacher before he became famous.

Yeah, I just thought of that while I was reading those lyrics. Shudder.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, the Police, Don't stand so close to me....I knew some guys in P.G. who were teachers and the one guy who I used to be a room mate with was a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen. He never would have done anything inappropriate....but he wasn't sharp enough to see things coming and inevitiably will fall in the trap one day.

[troutman]

There were profs at a large University I attended, that had to keep their doors open at all times for alleged indiscretions.

[troutman]

Spoken:
Oh wow, man !
Wait a second man. whaddaya think the teachers gonna look like this year ?
My butt, man !
T-t-teacher stop that screaming, teacher dont you see ?
Dont wanna be no uptown fool.
Maybe I should go to hell, but Im doin well,
Teacher needs to see me after school.
Chorus:
I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
Im hot for teacher.
I got it bad, so bad,
Im hot for teacher.
Spoken:
Hey, I heard you missed us, were back !
I brought my pencil
Gimme something to write on, man
I heard about your lessons, but lessons are so cold.
I know about this school.
Little girl from cherry lane, how did you get so bold ?
How did you know that golden rule ?
Chorus
(guitar solo)
Oh man, I think the clock is slow
I dont feel tardy
Class dismissed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5t5GukrWOU

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by troutman

Spoken:
Oh wow, man !
Wait a second man. whaddaya think the teachers gonna look like this year ?
My butt, man !
T-t-teacher stop that screaming, teacher dont you see ?
Dont wanna be no uptown fool.
Maybe I should go to hell, but Im doin well,
Teacher needs to see me after school.
Chorus:
I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
Im hot for teacher.
I got it bad, so bad,
Im hot for teacher.
Spoken:
Hey, I heard you missed us, were back !
I brought my pencil
Gimme something to write on, man
I heard about your lessons, but lessons are so cold.
I know about this school.
Little girl from cherry lane, how did you get so bold ?
How did you know that golden rule ?
Chorus
(guitar solo)
Oh man, I think the clock is slow
I dont feel tardy
Class dismissed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5t5GukrWOU

I have to say, I have rather fond memories of strippers in school-girl outfits dancing to that song.