Nursery World - Opinion: To the point

The state must do more to welcome men into childcare, says Alan Bentley.

Three recent newspaper articles which made me slightly sad, and a little concerned.

The first, by UNICEF, stated that UK children were among the most unhappy children in the World. The second concerned increases in the divorce rate among parents with young children. Finally, a report from the General Teaching Council said that no young male teachers were to be found in the state maintained nursery sector.

It is widely accepted that children respond to stability, especially in the early stages of development. Further, their parental bonding, usually with both male and female models, sets their own primary source of gender understanding.

When this parental bonding is placed at risk through divorce, much of that gender role modelling disappears. The role of the father in shaping discipline changes into a more benign acquiescence during weekend visits, there often only being time to indulge, not restrain.

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