You have a penis, so you can't help me.

[mathnerd]

Sadly it does happen. My third grade teacher is still in prison after being convicted of crimes against several of my classmates and girls in classes before mine. Unfortunately, it's men like that who make things tough for the majority of men, who would rather eat their own toes than hurt a kid.

[Jetfire]

In regards to the story of Seshat's brother, I have a supporting story from an ex-flat mate, C.

Back in 1989 C had a job at a child care centre. He was an qualified assistant that did odd jobs like preparing food, cleaning the centre and changing nappies. Quite often at the end of his shift he would play with the kids for a bit. They loved him because he would play games that required a bit of strength (ie pushing high on swings or spinning the kids around). In 1990 the "Mr Bubbles" sexual abuse case broke in Sydney, a man working at his wife's child care centre was accused of sexually abusing the children. Suddenly, all the parents involved with the child care centre didn't want a man working in there and force C to leave the job. There had never been any hint of inappropriate behaviour by C. He wasn't sacked but his contract was not renewed and he didn't fight it as the parent's had made his job very difficult.

It's sad to hear how things are going. My very first teacher was Mr Tibbets, grade 1 teacher at the Elementary school (and apparently he still remembers me 30 years later). I think there were a few other male teachers at the school back then too, but most were female. The guys that were there were great teachers, and I don't recall much talk of those threats at the time at least. Nowadays, it's sadly a different world.

[jedimaster91]

At my church, I teach young children (6 and 7 years old). Because I'm male, there's another teacher there with me for the same reasons: to protect each other from false accusations.

When I was a Den Leader for Cub Scouts, we always had to have at least 2 adults present (the only exception being a parent could be alone with their child). I wish I had another teacher with me for the 8-9 year old Sunday School class I teach. Not because I'm worried about false accusations, but because they're a wild bunch and Sundays usually end with me wanting to strangle at least one of them.

[Gizmo]

At my church, I teach young children (6 and 7 years old). Because I'm male, there's another teacher there with me for the same reasons: to protect each other from false accusations.

We were saying this about a social group I'm part of. If there is any reason we need to wander and there may well be kids about then we'd make sure a man and a woman would go together to allay any suspicion or potential claims....

[fireheart]

I'm lucky in this regard...while the number of female staff outweigh the male ones at the company I work for, the ones I do know so far have not had an accusation levelled against them. I think a few factors work in their favour:

1) They tend to bond with the older boys easily, many of whom do not want to be in an after-school care program. (and who will not listen to the female staff!) My current coordinator also gives a crap about the welfare of the older kids.

2) All the company policies are unisex. That is, at my main site, if we're doing a toilet run and there's only one child that needs to go, we take another child with us. Doesn't matter WHO is doing the run, we have two kids at all times. (and this is more for general safety-we have 3 regular male staff at the site, plus there's another 3-4 that I'm aware of around the state)

3) Staff can work at any number of sites around the state/country, so if there's one site that suddenly has the whole "ZOMG MALE EDUCATOR ON SITE" paranoia, said (innocent!) male can be shifted to another site nearby that doesn't deal with that bullcrap.

4) The only times we're likely to be in a "compromising position" are first-aid related and/or soiled clothing. In the case of the latter, the kid dresses themselves while we wait outside.

[Seshat]

Poor C. And the kids, too. Someone like C or my brother can be a great 'uncle' figure for kids who don't have a father or uncle figure to associate with, too.

[Mr Hero]

He's often the Santa, the Easter Bunny, and other such characters at his church. With an escort. The escort being there for his sake as much as anything else.

At my church, I teach young children (6 and 7 years old). Because I'm male, there's another teacher there with me for the same reasons: to protect each other from false accusations.

[TopEndDave]

In regards to the story of Seshat's brother, I have a supporting story from an ex-flat mate, C.

Back in 1989 C had a job at a child care centre. He was an qualified assistant that did odd jobs like preparing food, cleaning the centre and changing nappies. Quite often at the end of his shift he would play with the kids for a bit. They loved him because he would play games that required a bit of strength (ie pushing high on swings or spinning the kids around). In 1990 the "Mr Bubbles" sexual abuse case broke in Sydney, a man working at his wife's child care centre was accused of sexually abusing the children. Suddenly, all the parents involved with the child care centre didn't want a man working in there and force C to leave the job. There had never been any hint of inappropriate behaviour by C. He wasn't sacked but his contract was not renewed and he didn't fight it as the parent's had made his job very difficult.

[Deserted]

We can all cook, by the way. Just some are better than others. And that doesn't fall along traditional gender lines, either. (At a guess, I'd say the order of best to worst in the kitchen among the five of us would be older sister, me, younger sister, stepbrother, stepsister. Not sure how much any of them would argue that, either.)

My parents were in a vaguely similar situation. Dad was an outstanding (non-professional) cook; Mom could burn water...

[mathnerd]

Being active on a forum for teachers, I've had the pleasure of knowing a number of male elementary school teachers. Two of my favorites are kindergarten and first grade teachers. It's really infuriating to hear them tell stories of parents of girls insisting that their children be put in somebody else's class, simply because they are male.

[Seshat]

Really, it was unfortunate for the women who refused to shop with him, because they missed out on his incredible knowledge and skills with fitting women's underpinnings.

The two women who used to work at a shop that used to be near us were that skilled at matching bras to people, too. Specialist 'odd sizes' lingerie shop. If you needed a 10DD or even an 8DD, they'd have it or could get it. And for me (18G), there were never less than eight different bras I could try on!


And for 'you have a penis therefore...'

My brother is a natural with young children. He's almost as pure-intellect-intelligent as me, and MUCH more social-intelligent and emotional-intelligent. And he LOVES being around young children, especially watching them learn, watching their developmental milestones, and helping them with them.
He has endless patience for helping a little one learn to catch a ball, draw with a crayon, put duplo together.

Natural early childhood teacher, yes? Yes.

<sigh>

We didn't dare. If he had innie bits, sure. But he's a he, not a she. Statistically, there'd be at least one accusation in the course of his professional career. Possibly more. And an accusation can ruin a person's life, even if it's withdrawn or fails in a court case.

He's often the Santa, the Easter Bunny, and other such characters at his church. With an escort. The escort being there for his sake as much as anything else.

[Jester]

Basically the reverse of the people who don't think women who work in tech support/auto parts stores/gaming stores/auto repair shops know what they're talking about.

Unless you're talking about who can give birth, gender stereotypes are idiotic.

If you ever meet me and my siblings (myself, two sisters, a stepsister, and a stepbrother), good luck figuring out who flies planes, who jumps out of them, who wears steel-toed boots, who can work on cars, who is a demon with a hot glue gun, who is the most feared by most people, and who is talented at interior decorating.

We can all cook, by the way. Just some are better than others. And that doesn't fall along traditional gender lines, either. (At a guess, I'd say the order of best to worst in the kitchen among the five of us would be older sister, me, younger sister, stepbrother, stepsister. Not sure how much any of them would argue that, either.)

[prjkt]

Heh similar story at one of my stores;
Father and daughter working together
Daughter (with bright pink hair mind you) asks customer if he needs a hand, older guy looks at her in disdain, "I'll wait for him" emphasising the gender.
Father finishes up with the customer he was serving, and the older guy asks him about a camera
"Hey (daughter), you have this camera , can you please help this gentleman?"

He didn't stick around for long

[MoonCat]

Irv, will it make you feel better if I admit that I wouldn't have known what a contour rug is? I know there are rugs that fit around the base of the toilet, but I didn't know they had a special name

I'm not very domestic.

[dalesys]

Uncle Bonsai (NSFW)