Young Aussies 'losing' male role models?

[Mademoiselle]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23644674-2,00.html

"Abuse fears alterring relationships, behaviour

Increasing anxiety over teachers, clergy, coaches

Trend 'may stunt development of young Australians'

THE social development of many young Australians may be stunted because potential male role models will not engage with them for fear of being wrongly accused of child abuse.

Men are worried about putting themselves in positions where such an allegation may be levelled against them, either within families and more broadly at school or in social settings such as team sports, warns Australian Institute of Family Studies director Alan Hayes.

This may add to the problems of the current generation of children, who are more anxious and have more developmental problems and mental health issues than previously, he says.

In a paper presented to the Australian Family Law conference, Professor Hayes notes that while the significance of harm caused by child abuse should not be underestimated, the public focus on shocking instances has wider ramifications, particularly on the raising of boys.

"Within families, concern over child sexual abuse has ... altered the nature of relationships and the behaviour of fathers and male members of extended families particularly," he writes in the paper, to be published this week in the AIFS Family Matters series.

"There is a sense in which families have also been touched by what, at times, can be an overly fearful focus on child abuse.

"Beyond the family, the changes have been even more marked, with increasing anxiety surrounding children's interaction with their teachers, clergy and coaches, among others.

"The fear of accusations of sexual abuse may be one driver ... for the decline in the proportion of males entering teaching."

[Silmarillion]

Truncated...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23644674-2,00.html

"Abuse fears alterring relationships, behaviour

Increasing anxiety over teachers, clergy, coaches

Trend 'may stunt development of young Australians'

THE social development of many young Australians may be stunted because potential male role models will not engage with them for fear of being wrongly accused of child abuse...

"The fear of accusations of sexual abuse may be one driver ... for the decline in the proportion of males entering teaching."

I am not from Australia. But Australians in the media certainly impacted my youth: Mel Gibson (American by birth, Australian by nurture, Paul Hogan, and Steve Irwin). So what happened to Australia's grand culture of sensitive masculinity? Are the Catholic priests only now coming out of the closet?

Edited May 5, 2008 by lmbeharry

[Belle.]

Yes, I have discussed this with male friends who work in roles such as teaching and childcare and it is definitely something that you have to consider. It is a pity because quite a few kids now come from single parent homes (usually with a female primary carer) and it would be great if they could get access to more male role models at school/in care.

[wolfknight]

Maybe the men are afraid of being accused of something. Jailed for something that they didn't do. Why would anyone want to take a chance anymore? It is all of society we are blame for this. Not just 1 country.

[Silmarillion]

Yes, I have discussed this with male friends who work in roles such as teaching and childcare and it is definitely something that you have to consider. It is a pity because quite a few kids now come from single parent homes (usually with a female primary carer) and it would be great if they could get access to more male role models at school/in care.

I considered moving to Australia, but I am afraid that Aussies tend toward racism like the Americans. BTW, I'm a really good male role model!

1st Edit: No offense to Australia. I get the same vibe from Canadians. Kinda like, you can have a drink with my daughter - just don't even think about marrying her. But I may be well wrong...

Edited May 5, 2008 by lmbeharry

[goalienan]

I can see this happening without the honesty and trust being there anymore...It's like everyone is walking on eggs, for fear of saying the wrong thing to a child or fear of patting a child on the back without it going into further issues...

[wolfknight]

I can see this happening without the honesty and trust being there anymore...It's like everyone is walking on eggs, for fear of saying the wrong thing to a child or fear of patting a child on the back without it going into further issues...

I agree with you Goalienan.

[Bella-Angelique]

I considered moving to Australia, but I am afraid that Aussies tend toward racism like the Americans.

Really? Name one nation that has more racially mixed marriages than the USA.

[wolfknight]

Really? Name one nation that has more racially mixed marriages than the USA.

none. We all mixed up.

[Mademoiselle]

Really? Name one nation that has more racially mixed marriages than the USA.

Good question !

[louie]

I can see this happening without the honesty and trust being there anymore...It's like everyone is walking on eggs, for fear of saying the wrong thing to a child or fear of patting a child on the back without it going into further issues...

Thats very true and not just Australia. eg, friends kids you cant rough house with them, play around wrestling, chasing or just even be tender with them in the case that it may be misconstrued as something else. when im messing around with my nieces and nephews or friends kids its always in the back of my mind, what if someone sees this as something else. its a shame but thats the society we live in today.

when i was a kid i used to love play fighting with my uncles an it was never a problem but today its a diffrent story.

its a shame.

[Silmarillion]

none. We all mixed up.

Brazil? Republic of Trinidad and Tobago? (really mixed up gene pools here in these places!) -likely elsewhere in the Caribbean. -Maybe Morocco - but I've never been there - but its gotta be mixed up (though you'd have to be Muslim)- African blacks, Euro types from from Byzantium ca. 800 A.D., Spanish, Arabs, etc.

There are many many places with a greater acceptance of mixtures in marriage than the U.S. Hell, you should see Mongolia. The range of skin tones is quite amazing: from the fairest to "black Mongolians" (maybe Communist Cubans or Angolans from Soviet era - I have no clue).

Anyway, back to the immediate concerns about the dearth of male role models in Australia...

Maybe this issue is just symptomatic of Western society in general. I mean two parents working, little quality time for kids, and the traditional emphasis on the concept that women should manage the home - maybe the guys in the West just lost their way. And along with the other posters on this thread, maybe guys are afraid to get involved in light of recent publicity regarding abuse and so forth. I volunteered with youths throughout my entire life - since I was a 15 year-old in high school, all through University, and afterward. I never saw anything untoward with any of the social service groups with which I worked, but I never looked for any suspicious activity either. Maybe the world just got paranoid of late.

I don't know the deal, but guys should step up and continue to help the younger generations of guys grow in awareness and responsibility. That's our function in society - to teach boys to be men.

BTW, my favorite poem: Rudyard Kipling, IF

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

[goalienan]

Thats very true and not just Australia. eg, friends kids you cant rough house with them, play around wrestling, chasing or just even be tender with them in the case that it may be misconstrued as something else. when im messing around with my nieces and nephews or friends kids its always in the back of my mind, what if someone sees this as something else. its a shame but thats the society we live in today.

when i was a kid i used to love play fighting with my uncles an it was never a problem but today its a diffrent story.

its a shame.

That is so true, the restrictions and stop and think are all around us...Years ago, my daughter was driving with her two toddlers, windows opened, early evening...Well toddlers, being as they are, stared yelliing, screaming, crying and my daughter was stopped for a light...She turned around, told them (harshly) to be quiet or they would be in trouble...The man next to her chastized my daughter for yelling at them...Needless to say, my daughter told him off and moved on...Yep, you have to be so, so careful.....

[Bunny Munro]

Pfft, 'sif.

*Puts on the Paint Your Wagon soundtrack*