Role Models

Some of the most well known positive male role models get paid millions of dollars a year. Their work requires them to play games that they have been playing since they were children. I get paid to play games I played when I was a child, except a pre-school teacher like myself doesn’t get paid the enormous salary that a professional sports athlete gets paid. Bummer. I’ll live with it because, I know that being a positive male influence for so many children now and having been one over the years makes what I do working in early education very important (even when it isn’t driving me totally crazy.)

                At my interview for the teacher’s assistant position that would get my foot in the door of early ed. one of the interviewers mentioned that the classroom for which I was being considered for had more than one child who was in desperate need of a strong positive male influence in their life.  Since then I have heard that phrase said many more times for other children that I would work with. I’ve helped children who never met their fathers, children whose fathers were in jail, children whose fathers were abusers and or drug users. Each unique situation where male role models (fathers or other males in children’s lives) are either absent or at the best are negative develops a unique way that a child need someone to be a positive male influence in their life.

                When children have no strong or positive male influence in their lives it leaves them to piece together the concept of a male identity on their own from what society projects. Unfortunately, many of these male stereotypes that are presented by various media outlets continue to re-enforce that mucho macho male image where males have to be powerful. It took me awhile to figure out that the best “male” role model I could be for the children was to just be a good person and not concern myself with projecting those stereotypes that are associated with being a male.