11–20 of 174 posts
As a parent, I'm of the opinion that the media blows kidnappings and the like way out of proportion. Even then, it's difficult to look at the data objectively, because it's your children.
Meanwhile, children are far more likely to be physically or sexually abused or kidnapped by close relatives. But that story is less compelling from a media perspective so the public is less exposed to it.
My child went to an excellent day care center that got targeted for harassment because it had male workers. The place got inspected by the state and ultimately got a clean bill of health, but it cost them money and caused a lot of worry for them and parents who had children there. I spoke with the director and we both agreed that children spend too much time with women in school and day care. One of the reasons many…
It was amazing to see the reactions of moms dropping off their kids when they realized it was just us. Only once did I get asked "is there going to be a mom here with you?" but I know it was in a lot of their minds. But I never had one refuse to leave their kid with us. Over the years I've had plenty of moms eventually tell me how glad they were to see men working with kids.
I did get a chance for 2 years to run more "boy-friendly" activities at church. We did mock camp-outs, blanket forts, went outside for classes whenever the weather and sunlight allowed, and even had campfires outside during what otherwise would have been time spent sitting around a table trying to pay attention. Boys don't work well indoors trying to sit still and pay attention. They really do absorb more if they're outside and their hands are busy.
I even got to work with a special-needs girl that was horribly abused by her birth parents. (I'd happily beat her birth parents within an inch of their lives and worse if I ever met them.) In two years she went from screaming fits if an adult even accidently touched her arm to the point that she'd walk up and hug me. I was honored to be a small part of her recovery.
All the newspapers and TV stations and social media and whatnot create an environment very different from the one we evolved with. This is not the small tribe living in the savanna anymore, yet we react to news exactly the same way. Hence all the bizarre attitudes like the one described in this article.
If I had to choose one of the following, to improve society: a). More women in tech b). More men in childcare/teaching It'd be 'b' without a doubt. As said elsewhere, the complete lack of any male role models at a large number of schools is astonishing and very worrying. Is it any wonder girls are performing better than boys these days, as the number of male teachers has decreased to almost none? Great to finally see…
In fact, it seems like each would support the other.
I remember when this all got started in the early 90s. The 80s were pretty mellow but then I think the Polly Klass murder in California was a watershed moment where the politicians and the news media just went for it with the insane anti-male paranoid stuff. All the school policies changed and everything got excessively locked down and paranoid.
3 comments on this, and 200 on some girl whining that (male) geeks "hurt her feelings".
A BBC story from 2006? Stories from her friends? That's the best she's got? Would be nice to see a real article on this topic with actual analysis and data. Of course it's stupid to label all men as possible predators, but there's another side to it: when a single pedophile can damage literally hundreds of children, who wouldn't have cause for concern? The challenge is to find the level of concern that is reasonable…
I imagine many men voting this story up have noticed this trend in their own lives.
It's not hard data, but it shows a trend.
Heck just yesterday I rode an elevator up with 2 parents and their maybe 3 year old kid. The kid had been out in the rain and I made a comment directly to the child about the rain. The parents looked pissed just because I was talking to their kid.
I was just trying to make awkward elevator conversation a little less awkward.
Sadly, it's difficult to compare the hand-wavy benefit (letting children interact with men) with the real cost of having something happen to your child. As a parent, I'm of the opinion that the media blows kidnappings and the like way out of proportion. Even then, it's difficult to look at the data objectively, because it's your children.
3 comments on this, and 200 on some girl whining that (male) geeks "hurt her feelings".