Parents Demand More Male Childcare Workers

[Paul (FF Visitor)]

You can the read the full article at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Parents+Demand+More+Male+Childcare+Workers-1102.html

I am a registered child minder aged 40 and have been trying to get into nursery child care for almost 6 years.

my experience is one of being discriminated against. If there is a shortage of male role models,
ADVERTISEMENTthe main reason could be that we never get a fair chance to show what we can do!

Also ageist ads don't help. I have complained to the Equal Opportunities people about this and never ever got a reply!

I know from speaking to mothers at my local play groups(with no qualifications or experience)female seem to get nursery nurse jobs without and i'm better qualified than most of the 20 or 30s year olds
I am frustrated and annoyed at being discriminated against because I am male.

When I hear stories in the news about 17-year-old girls left in charge of babies, who subsequently strangle themselves, it makes me feel very angry.

My experience and my training as a child minder, and my common sense based on 40 years in the school of life,seem to count for nothing, because I am a man.

Even being a male childminder i don't get the under 5s.

What can i do just site back and say forget it? we are not all nasty.

Paul.

[John (FF Visitor)]

You can the read the full article at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Parents+Demand+More+Male+Childcare+Workers-1102.html

I am 41 year old male childminder for 2 years and have been struggling to fill places, the reason is male rejection. ichr(146)ve only had children under 5s that are within the family. Ichr(146)ve worked hard over the pass 8 years to make a carrier in the early years sector, gaining qualifications and 8 years experience.

I hear from parents from schools and parents i know saying Ichr(146)m good with kids and seem to enjoy my job and I do. So why is it when it comes down to getting under 5s parents donchr(146)t approach.


Ichr(146)ve been to nurseries and pre-schools for interviews with much better qualifications and found out that a 18 year old female as got the job with no qualifications or experience? But best of it I worked voluntary as a child carer in the early years and as a befriended for children with special needs, but when it comes to paid full time work Ichr(146)m pushed away for a younger female or a older female.

I donchr(146)t think this will change in the near future

John

[Captain]

I have an uncle who is sole caregiver of his daughter after a marriage breakdown when she was 2.
He is often discriminated against and people assume he is a pedophile when they see him in the park ect.

It's ridiculous, I think many men are wonderful with children.

[Liam (FF Visitor)]

You can the read the full article at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Parents+Demand+More+Male+Childcare+Workers-1102.html

Im a 19 year old with a level 3 qualification in childcare and education.

i work hard at what i do and i spend a lot of time studying and trying to advance my skills, but I still find that I get overlooked and unappreciated when applying for jobs within the area.

i finnaly got given the chance in an interview to display my skills within the acctual setting and hence I got the job over around 15 other people.

this i feel some parents didnt like too much and within the 3 months that i have been woking there i have had a positive impact on alot of the children from single parent families, but lately boss has employed 2 new members of staff who also have a level 3 or level 2. this has caused my hours,and only my hours to be shortend, i know only work two out of five days,which is a dissapointment as i am always putting full effort into my career.

it took me months of job searchign and interveiws to get a job in the area i so desired, i even did 2 months of volunrty work with the offer of a place to work afterwards, but then was only offered one day a week starting in the new year.

once I phoned up every setting within my local area to ask if they had any vacancies, most said no apart from a select veiw who sent a application form but never replied.one setting said that they have no vacancies and wont have any for a while, within two days i was browsing the local authority jobsite andwho do i see advertising for a level 3 playworker?yes your right the exact same setting who told me they wernt employing.

my partners father is a deputy head at a middle school and he even said that my c.v was one of the most well presented ones that he has seen.

its sickening how little men are appreciated withing the childcare sector.Its time for a change, and it needs to happen soon.

liam

[Gideon Daniel (FF Visitor)]

You can the read the full article at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Parents+Demand+More+Male+Childcare+Workers-1102.html

I am a male child care provider with almost 16 years of profesional child care experience (not just babysitting). In the "Play"care I work I encounter many parents who are leary of having a male watch their children. Males are either seen as irresponsible or pedaphiles. However atleast 90 percent of the parents who choose to join even those who are at first cautious learn to love me. No offense meant to any of the other teachers but when I walk into the door I am greeted by at least 20 voices saying "Mr. Gideon"!. I even have a wall of pictures of me in crayon. A male stands out and has the potential to reach a lot of children. In fact in my experience the "dad" voice carries a great deal more weight than that of my collegues. I am also the one more often associated with play as I am the Human Jungle Gym. I love my work and would not trade it for the world, it takes multitasking, and patience and I would not disagree that most males can not handle that but I would counter with the fact that most mothers could not deal with 35-75 kids at a time.

[Gerry (FF Visitor)]

You can the read the full article at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/parenting/Parents+Demand+More+Male+Childcare+Workers-1102.html

It's very difficult to get men into an area where the majority sex often does not want men in it for various reasons. I know of at least 2 cases where men in my city filed law-suits against Day Care centres for gender discrimination in the hiring process and won. I've no idea how common this discrimination ios but women often get away with it because men don't file charges.