“So many of us, the majority of men, are doing the right thing. They’re here for the right reasons, these horrible individuals … ruin it for everyone.”
Police visit the Papilio Early Learning Centre in Essendon on Tuesday morning.Credit: Justin McManus
Deakin University lecturer in education Katherine Bussey said there were already many challenges to encourage men into the professions, including lower pay, a feminised profession and unwarranted suspicion of men working in caring roles.
Bussey said men should be supported to work in the early learning and care sector.
“It unfortunately does not matter what someone’s gender is to perpetrate harm against others,” she said.
“I know of people who were sexually assaulted in early childhood education by a female educator. I believe it is time for a national record of professionals in [early childhood education and care].
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“We have stringent codes of conduct as teachers in early childhood maintained through VIT’s [Victorian Institute of Teaching] provisions that are linked to teacher’s registration. However, if you work as an educator, there are lower screening practices for educators as there are for teachers.”
Tuesday’s revelations that Brown has been charged with more than 70 child sex offences relating to children as young as five months have spread fear through the community, but experts say gender is not the issue.
NSW childcare worker Nick Stephens said good men wanted to protect children but said “there are gaps bad people can take advantage of”.
“I think we need to tell parents that there is a risk. You drop your children off at childcare, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
In early learning centres that have a high ratio of children to staff, it can be easy for educators to be alone with a child. “We need to talk about this,” Stephens said.
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Early Childhood Australia chief executive Samantha Page said many people were already suspicious about male early learning educators.
“It has been [an issue] in recent years since there was a case that was quite public and devastating for everybody and that has created concerns and suspicions about male educators unfairly,” she said.
“It’s such a pity because we need good male educators working in early childhood settings.”
Ramesh Shrestha, who runs a support network for male childcare workers, Thriving Educators Aspiring Male Professionals, said the last time allegations about a male educator came out, men who had been in the industry for 10 years decided to quit.
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“Just to see them lose their morale and motivation because of what had happened and because of that constant scrutiny from everyone, like, it’s like coming to a workplace and being watched by everyone. So I think, yeah, it is definitely going to have quite an impact.”
He said having male early learning educators was important not only for the sector, but for children.
“Toxic masculinity is on the rise – if we don’t demonstrate those positive male role models in the early years, they are going to find that on the internet with [misogynistic influencer] Andrew Tate,” he said.
Instead of unfairly blaming all male educators, he said, system changes were needed.
He advocated for an increase in staff ratios so that children would always be watched by at least two people, as well as having an easy way to report so everyone could advocate for children’s safety.
With Angus Delaney
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