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Absence of men from childcare 'a
national disgrace' New Zealand¹s largest
representative body of licensed early childhood centres has called for a
partnership between Government and childcare organizations to encourage more
men into childcare. The call follows yesterday's (24 September)
Sunday Programme (on ONE) which revealed men were more than two per cent of
those working in early childhood care (teacher-staffed, government-funded
early childhood services) in 1992, but less than one per cent today and
falling. The Early Childhood Council said
the absence of men from early childhood teaching was a national disgrace. Chief Executive Sue Thorne said
New Zealand compared very badly to other developed countries and the need for
action was urgent. With few men in our primary schools
and fewer in childcare centres we have created a society in which we have
quarantined our children from our men. This is a project of destructive
social change with very negative consequences for children.¹ She said the paedophile hysteria
of the 1990s had caused good men to vacate roles caring for children. Many men don¹t feel welcome in
childcare, she said. They feel they will be treated as
suspect until proven innocent. And we know, as a matter of record, that some
parents will not enroll children in a centre if men are present. "We have created a culture in
which it can be dangerous to reputation and future for a childcare male to
cuddle a distressed child, to change a nappy or express affection. This
anti-male bias, however, does not change the fact that children need to
experience men as nurturing." The presence of men in childcare
was important for the many children being brought up with absent fathers, she
said. And it was especially important if such children came from at-risk
environments in which they had experienced men as unreliable or abusive. "The potential benefits of
such children spending time with strong, gentle men were incalculable,"
Mrs Thorne said. She said there was great irony in
the fact that the current situation is perpetuated by those who would
otherwise proclaim most loudly an opposition to sexism¹. Why is it that the same people who
speak with passion about the absence of women from the boardroom are silent
about the absence of men from the classroom? Why is it that there would be an
outcry were women excluded from the promotion of careers in the army or law
or medicine, but there is silence when men are excluded in advertising for
childcare?¹ Mrs Thorne called for a
partnership between the Government, the teacher unions, the education
institutions and child care associations to get more men onto the childcare
frontline. There was a time, only a few years
ago, when few doctors, lawyers or journalists were women, but we changed that
she said. They've achieved substantial increases
in male participation in childcare overseas and I see no reason why the same
could not be achieved in New Zealand. Men were needed to help resolve
severe labour shortages in the sector, Mrs Thorne said. The system needs them. The
children need them. It's time things changed. The Early Childhood Council,
headed by Mrs Thorne, has 940 member centres (both community-owned and
commercially-owned) which employ more than 6000 staff and care for more than
50,000 children. |
