[CaberTosser]

At my son’s elementary school (by example rather than by intent) they’re taught that there is no such thing as a male teacher. There is not a one among perhaps 16-20 staff there? As ratio’s go 0% is pretty pathetic. I imagine that other elementary schools might have one or two male teachers to drag that ratio up to 5% between the three schools if another school has one male teacher and another has a whopping two? I’d really like to see the school boards stats on those numbers. I recall my own school experience and there were male teachers in both elementaries that I attended though I do recall that it was the older students they would be instructing, grade 4 and up. It’s curious how there are so few men, if any, teaching the earliest grades. I imagine other elementary schools might have one or two male teachers to drag that average to up around 5%. This clearly demonstrates there is an issue with a number of things: men entering the teaching profession, men experiencing many social prejudices to overcome in teaching at a grade school level, the hiring practices of the school board, possibly actions the principal herself. I sense a letter being compiled and co-addressed to the school board and levels of government.

I’m at the same time being sarcastic, ironic and serious about this. The irony is pointing out an occupation where men are underrepresented but nobody on the left has ever raised the issue about such an obvious gender representation inequality. Is it a workplace that’s toxic towards men? I’m serious in that if it weren’t for attitudes of so many it might be a job choice that more men would take and that I think it’s important for children to have some positive male influence during their developing years. Like nursing, teaching at younger grade levels is not something that is a calling for many men, but it’s a good job and it seems that something is awry if there is not a single male in an entire building, save for when the maintenance dept visits, and it’s not like those gents interact with the kids.