Listen to thisTwo questions posed by first-year students prompted an interesting exchange on CYC-Net’s discussion group. What follows is is a raw thread of the debate as it unravelled ...
Two first-year Child and Youth Care students from Malaspina University-College have these two questions they would like input for as a result of answering the following question: “What have you never understood about Child and Youth Care?”
Q#1: Why is there a lack of male interest in Child and Youth Care?
Q#2: Why is Child and Youth Care not perceived as a worthy career path in the same regard as being a lawyer, police officer, doctor, etc?
These two students asked me to post the questions
for them.
Thank you,
Robert Bates
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From: Dr Niall C. McElwee
Interesting questions those Robert. Here in Ireland I led a national
study a couple of years back titled Where have all the Good Men Gone:
Exploring Males in Social Care in Ireland (McElwee et al, 2003)and it is
available as a PDF download on several sites if you just type in the
full title. In retrospect the book should more accurately have been
called, Where have all the Good Men Gone: Exploring the Absence of Males
in Social Care in Ireland. I say this because we flund under 10% of
males on the various college programmes studying for Diplomas and
Degrees. There are a variety of reason why males don’t elect for Child
and Youth Care: (1) Career guidance at secondary school/high school
level directs them away from it (2) Males say their female peers “put
them off doing it” (3) Males say they feel they will be considered gay
of they are seen to be working in Child and Youth Care (4) Males are
fearful of allegations being made against them (5) Males prefer more
hierarchal posts such as in law or medicine (6) Males have an absence of
male care models growing up (7) Males don’t like the subject range
feeling they are too “touchy, feely” I could go on and on ... Basically,
Child and Youth Care is not as valued by society as other
disciplines/professions because it has come from a very disorganised,
largely voluntary/philanthropic base and is only now catching up with
related areas.
Last year in my Degree in Social Care Practice class there were no male students at all. There are no males studying either for research Masters in Child and Youth Care or for research PhDs in Child and Youth Care in my Institute. Sad. Sad for everyone, eh?
Dr Niall McElwee
Senior Lecturer, Social Care
Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland
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From: Ron Cambridge
These are two good questions that have been around since the beginning. My personal answer to these two questions is the same ...
In my generation boys were taught from an early age through the media and our care givers not to cry or be emotional, the tougher we are the more successful we will be. If you cried or show any emotions you were weak.
Therefore the caring and emotional needs required to help others is missing. This was not considered important.
The caring business was left for the females to do,
it was taken for granted that this is their role in society and the
males were supposed to be the bread winners. Thereby placing the
business of caring for others to a secondary role resulting in viewing
it as a nonprofessional occupation. No higher education required.
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From: James Hartley
I think there are various answers to your questions.
Lack of male interest might be due particularly to your second question.
Question #1 Lawyers , Police, Doctors (your examples of worthy careers)
are necessary resources to rich, poor and everyone in between. Child
Care Workers (I do not like the term child care workers, I prefer
family support counselors) are an asset to those whose disposition in
life is compromised with social economic difficulties, mental health
issues and/or social acceptance issues. Those in the field value the
importance, those who have no clue have no benchmark.
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From: Michael Moss
These are questions that I struggled with a lot last year in my Child and Youth Care program. I am a young male Child and Youth worker now in the field. I had a similar dilemma in my class on communication skills. We were asked to explore a question of my choosing with a partner. I decided to explore the role of a male child and youth worker and my perceptions of self as a male Child and Youth Care worker. My partner was a First nation's woman; and we explored the role of a First nations Child and Youth Care worker on the inverse of interviewing roles. We found a lot of commonalities when it came to perceptions of self and identity, and the “boxes” that people wanted to put us in (i.e., First nations Child and Youth Care only want to work with First nations youth, a man cannot truly be a feminist because he cannot understand female mindset, etc). While we may have come from different backgrounds and different realities; we found we were dealing with the similar issues of defining our roles in the Child and Youth Care field.
I think that that might be a part of these questions. First off, the lack of male interest may be because of the traditional roles and myths that many North American youth grow up with. Whether it is the peer pressure of the locker room chatter or the beer advertisements on TV telling them that they should behave, act and react a certain way; or if it is the pressure that they put on themselves to affirm their own masculinity and not to seem “gay”. It could be institutionalized in the school system (gendered history and stereotypes of subject matter; math is for boys) or other sections of daily life. I think that the problem is very multi-layered and has great potential to expand in the future.
I believe that there can be a greater interest in Child and youth Care in males. I believe that the profession just needs a better Public relations office. While a large percentage of Child and Youth Care workers are female, it would be a good idea to recruit men into the profession. There is a large boom in Trades position in British Columbia, Canada right now and the majority of those positions are being filled by men. This is the other side of the coin to Child and Youth Care, where women are the minority. How do they deal with attracting women into their field and how do women feel about the lack of female interest in the trades? What are some strategies that the trades and Child and Youth Care programs in Colleges and universities use to attract men and women in high schools and job fairs to their professions?
I think that the second question ties right into the
first question. Why is Child and Youth Care perceived as a less than
prestigious career as a doctor or a lawyer. Look at the roles of the “traditional roles” of a man and a woman. Man = bread winner and sole
income provider and woman = homemaker and child rearer. This may not be an
enlightened view of the world, it may be the view that a larger cultural
context of North America shares. I think that Feminism and
multiculturalism are still seen as dirty words. I think that they are
theories and philosophies that are at the fringe of societal values. The
idea that a man must have a lot of money to be successful and a woman
must have good domestically to be successful seem, very mainstream right
now. Another part of the equation is power; money equals freedom,
stature, and power. If you have the social capital (i.e. power and
community stature) you are seen as a powerful person. This is “traditionally” a man. On the flip side, women are perceived as having
power over the household if it is tidy and the child are well mannered.
So, it is an interesting topic that may never be resolved, but very
important to keep in mind while learning about Child and Youth Care.
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From: Kerry Smith
Answers to questions: Low status. Low pay. Traditionally perceived as “mothers' work”. In Australia it is very difficult to raise a family as a single wage earner on the level of pay that is currently being paid for this type of work. Men in this field tend to lean towards older kids “such as crisis care for teenagers, etc. Also there is a bit of a “taboo” about a man working with young children – in some instances their sexuality has been questioned. All this is very sad for the industry.
Kerry Smith
Lecturer-Child Studies Moreton Institute of TAFE,
Australia
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From: Jenelle Matson
I am a student at Mount Royal College, completing my second year as a Child and Youth Care Counsellor. Great questions! Here are my opinions:
#1: Unfortunately the majority of Child and Youth Care Counsellors have extremely low paying careers. Many men feel pressure to be the financial supporter of their family and cannot afford to sacrifice their income. Unfortunately being the “bread winner” of your home, may mean you are not able to choose jobs such as Child and Youth Care Counselling until we are more widely recognized and better paid.
#2. Service work is so often unrecognized unless it
is right in front of someone else’s face. Lawyers, police officers, and
doctors work daily with the general public and everyone recognizes their
job is to help others. In Child and Youth Care Counselling we work daily
with children and because the public does not have to see it, they don’t have to recognize it. It is the same with acknowledging how many
children and youth we have that are struggling in so many ways and have
such little resources to help them out. If many of the public cant even
recognize the issues we deal with as Child and Youth Care Counsellors,
it is know wonder they cannot acknowledge us on the same level as many
other professions. Hopefully with each additional person completing this
program and joining this career choice, people will soon perceive us
just as worthy.
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From: J. Nicole Little
Hi Robert – I am actually very interested in what your students had to say about these issues and more. As first year students, what was their motivation coming to Child and Youth Care? If they identify as male, what drew them in? Despite the lack of professional “prestige”, what do they hope to gain as practitioners? However, in reference to the first question re: lack of male interest, I think it is important to examine the larger, gendered aspect of it. For example, is it a question of attracting more individual males to the field/profession? (i.e. changing our recruiting strategies, focusing more research on male identity and/or boys) Or, do we examine how this work has been gendered, concurrently devalued and valorized as “natural” (and hence, “feminine–), underpaid (as most so-called women's work is) and how it is situated in the larger context of sexist and oppressive structures and practices? If we exist in, and support (implicitly or explicitly) gendered ways of being, is it any surprise that so called real men would not take up a title that included the term care? On the other hand, my own undergraduate education in Child and Youth Care presented primarily men as the pioneers, so we must also examine how men come to have power in a field populated by female practitioners. These, of course, are just thoughts – I welcome further dialogue.
Sincerely,
Cole (Canada)
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From: Lis
Hi, My name is Lisa Dyck and I am a second year Child and Youth Care Counsellor student at Mount Royal College. I would like to reply to the previous posed questions.
#1) I think what we see is that COMPARED to female interest there is very little male interest. I think one of the reasons is that females are more relationally driven where men are more task driven. That might not be the best words to describe it, but what I mean is: females get a lot of enjoyment or satisfaction out of building and maintaining a relationship with someone. Whereas males tend to get more enjoyment out of work where they can tangibly come out with a finished product. Most men are drawn to something they can make with their hands, or something they can make in general. They are more focused on puzzles and politics, relationships between things and variables than relationships between people. You can look at other fields such as psychology and many community health faculties where the ratio is more women than men. I know not all men are as described above, some are very relationally aware and drawn to that type of work as well, but i think the different qualities in us as male and female tend to draw more females to the discipline.
#2) As for not being a worthy career path, I think
that comes out of the perception of our job. Many people look at us as
social workers, which is sometimes also a misperceived career choice.
Many people think all we do is sit around and talk with youth, or work
in schools and explain that the child must do his homework because it
will help him reach his “potential”. People often don’t take time to
think about the ramifications of our work, and/or the scope of it. They
don’t think about the fact that many children don’t receive the kind of
support they need at home, and we can provide them with that. They might
be upset with youth violence escalating, but not realize that by
counselling youth today and early interventions we are hoping to affect
that and see a decrease. The affect we might have on the end result of
many issues isn’t taken into account when people think of the career of
a Child and Youth Care Counsellor. Whereas with a job like lawyer or
doctor they see the benefit right away. The work is kind of front and
centre, not behind the scenes like ours. People use the services of
doctors and lawyers more than they would a counsellor.
Those are my opinions and thoughts on the questions. Thank you!
Lis
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From: darri sanders
Hello,
Well as for the answer to question 2, I would say
the reason that Child and Youth Care is not as valued in society as I
think it should be is because of who we work with and the fact that
society undervalues children, therefore we as Child and Youth Care
professionals are undervalued. Especially the children that I have
worked with; kids at risk, children with disabilities etc. I am not sure
why there is not very much interest in Child and Youth Care for males as
for females but I think that it also has to do with the way that society
as a whole perceives our profession. For the most part the people that
work with children are female, as we are the “nurturers”, I think that
it’s just the old stereotypes that are still lingering out there. I bet
that there are more men out there that would want to enter into this
field if society’s views about the masculinity or lack there in this
profession was different.
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From: Werner van der Westhuizen
I think the answer to Q#1 is quite obvious. Child and youth care is traditionally in many cultures considered to be a woman's task, and people cling to this belief. Also men are traditionally considered to be the breadwinner, and therefore is responsible for earning a reasonable income, but it is common knowledge that a career in Child and Youth Care does not pay as well as many other professions. And so men are just not attracted to the profession.
In response to Q#2, in S.A. most child care workers do not hold university degrees equivalent to that of the other professions, such as lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, remedial teachers and teachers, etc. The most commonly held qualification is the BQCC, which is a 2-year certificate. There are very few professionally qualified child care workers, and so the perception is that child care workers are not well qualified and not equal to their colleagues in the other professions. In S.A. at the moment, there is almost NO training available in Child and Youth Care work. Even Unisa/Technisa has stopped the 4 yr qualification course – even our colleagues at universities do not give the matter its deserved attention “it is just not considered to be a priority. As usual, the care of our children is just not important enough to society – which is of course why we are still here. Again, perhaps not what we want to hear, but the truth as I see it.
Werner van der Westhuizen
South Africa
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From: Emma Ramokgadi
Good day
The reason why we do not have more male Child and Youth Care Workers is
the appalling salaries we earning, especially in South Africa.
In my opinion in South Africa we have more Child and Youth Care male workers than females.
Question 2:It is not considered as a worthy career because anyone with
no qualifications was employed as a Child and Youth Care worker. We were
labelled as nannies or house parents. We need to advocate for ourselves
to be recognised and paid good salaries. The Government and NGO need to
look for qualifications before they can employ Child and Youth Care
workers. When they advertise posts they should specify which
qualifications are needed and the money must also match what one is
employed to do. It is a wonderful career, we just need to keep fighting
to make it better. I think we getting there though!!!
Thanks
Emma (SA)
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From: Tonya Boudreau
#1- I think males see child care as a female career choice, like nursing. Just like women tend to avoid mechanics, carpentry, etc. Men tend to avoid childcare careers. Men seeking caregivers even ask for women. I think a “patriarchal society” has created this trend and it is up to society to work at changing these theories. It is tradition for women to be the caregivers. Traditional female roles are changing. As a society, as parents, as child care providers we need to learn/accept that males are able to provide excellent care. Many parents won’t hire male care givers for their children because they have the theory that only a woman can provide the care needed. Many aren’t comfortable with males providing personal care, it’s a stereotype. It’s discrimination.
Tonya
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From: Kim Brian Senger
There is definitely a lack of males in Child and Youth Care. I am a male in Mount Royal in my second year. There is only one other male in a class of forty. I am on my second career and am thoroughly enjoying it. I have worked with youth for years in the church setting and there are many similarities.
You will find there are as many if not more males
working in the church setting so it is interesting to see the vast
difference in the numbers since the work can be very similar. Why is it
different? The church looks as it very positive to be a male leading and
teaching youth where the world perceives it to be more of a female’s role in care giving. It is such a shame because there are things a male
can offer that females can’t and vice-versa, so both are vital to have.
On the other hand I was quite fearful going into a group home that
looked after 8 to 12 year olds because of this stigma that the female
should be the care giver even though I am a father of two and did as
much in the care giving role as my wife did. I could not believe how
much fun and how rewarding it was. It boils down to soul searching and
to discover where your heart is and it seems at this point the females
have the heart and desire to help youth and children more than males do.
For me one of the reasons that Child and Youth Care is not perceived as
a worthy career is there is not much known about it – mainly because it
sits in the background. Where is the flare and acknowlegdement for what
you do? In our society you are defined by what you do, not who you are.
Do you sit in the lime light or not? You definitely don’t do this job
for the pay, and for males, especially young males, it is all about
getting a job that will pay for all your toys you need to meet your need
for thrills and excitement. A lot of people like acknowledgement from
the public in what they do and many of these other jobs are high profile
in the eyes of the public. Our reward as Child and Youth Care workers
are seen in reality by very few people (families, friends). We help save
and change as many lives as these higher profile job position but there
is very little recognition. Many people need their egos stroked and this
is a profession where you will not be looking for that recognition and
not likely to get it.
Good questions with the potential of unlimited responses. Thanks for reading my 2 cents worth.
Kim Senger
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From: Matthew Allen
My name is Matthew Allen and I’m a current Child and Youth student from the Nova Scotia Community College. I myself have asked these two questions to myself and after some thinking, this is what I have come up with so far.
There are probably various reasons why there is a lack of interest in men to take in child and youth. The first thought that comes to my head is that, generally and not always, but for the most part men are not the emotionally open kind, as opposed to women. It’s how society has made us think. Women are to be the motherly kind towards youth, while men are supposed to be the big, strong type that don’t share their feelings and don’t want to talk about feelings. Ever. I find that idea to be actually silly, as it don’t help anybody. Being a male, I do see the “lack of interest” in one way. In a class of roughly 30 some, there are only 5 men. That’s only 16%, and that’s not a lot. Some day it may change, but until society fully accepts the idea that men can be successful child and youth workers , many men will not consider this as a field of work. Another idea that just occurred to me, is the additional risk that men run in taking this course. Again, within our North American Society, in general it’s fully acceptable for women to hug the youth if they are in pain or suffering. However, if a man were to hug that child, that man may be charged with sexual assault, because it may “look wrong” to some other worker. Being even charged with abuse is serious damage to your career. So perhaps some men say “Best way to avoid that, is just to not do that job at all”. I’m sure I missed many ideas, but I hope this may have given you a clear idea of what some others may believe to be one of the causes for why Men are the minority in this field. By the way, it’s just not Child and youth I noticed that had a lack of men. I also took Educational Support in NSCC, and in my class I was one of the only two males in the entire course, of about 20 some.
In regards to the second question, I would say it’s not perceived in the same way for, again, various reasons. I think the
main reason why people put jobs such as being a lawyer, or a doctor in
such high esteem is the paycheck. Lawyers and Doctors make quite a nice
paycheck from what I hear, and the amount of years they put in their
education is mind boggling to me. Up to 10 years or more in some cases.
In NSCC, Child and youth is a second year course, after when you take
the basic human services. So in total, it’s two years before you
graduate. I’m not sure how long it takes in your University, but I would
think it would roughly be about the same, but I could be wrong. In other
more clear words, we don’t spend as much money, time, or have the amount
of educational background that a doctor or police officer may have.
Therefore, people may see our jobs as “easier to do because we only had
to do two years of school”. Of course, I’m going to disagree with these
people who say this, but anybody who works in Child and Youth Care
would.
I hope my comments and views have been of some help.
Regards
Matthew Allen
NSCC Child and Youth student
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Some interesting reading around this subject on our
CYC-NET web site ...
Men can care:
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-0104-mcmillan.html
Stereotypes:
https://www.cyc-net.org/today2005/today050608.html
Male practitioners: Endangered species?
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-0401-irishideas.html
Males in Child and Youth Care:
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-1103-mcelwee.html
Rub-a-dub-dub ...
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-0603-smith.html
Assignment report:
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-0403-assignment.html
Emotional literacy:
https://www.cyc-net.org/CYC-Online
/cycol-1204-smith.html
” The Editors
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From: Wattie, Mike
Incredibly stimulating questions and responses. I’m drawn in. I think it raises the question of professionalism, and how that relates to our work as Child and Youth Workers. Are we professionals, and do we share a common definition of what that means? Do we want to be?, do we believe our training is equal to those such as lawyers and Doctors who spend 7-10 years to acquire their title and status? Are we prepared to assume the same level of societal expectation/responsibility as they do? Are society’s values regarding child rearing, and human life likely to support our becoming a profession like these? The word itself I suggest has been very distorted in our market driven world, i.e. think professional athletes. I think some of these issues have been raised at least a little, but bear further exploration. I suggest a paradigm shift is needed, but not forthcoming. Further, can we not be satisfied with being valued in many ways like policeman, and say, nurses? I don’t have any of the answers to these, not even for myself in most of them, but the conversation suggests we’re thinking about them, and I find that exciting and hopeful.
As for the number of males in the field and why. Again I think many good reasons have been raised and will add further to the discussion. I think context has something to do with it. I entered the field in the mid 70s, the Vietnam war was ending, peace and love and liberalism wer flourishing. The notion that I could make a job of “caring” rang true to my youthful hopes for the world. This was solidified for me by profs who suggested that we could heal/change the world one child at a time, and by reading works by people like Virginia Satir, (Peoplemaking). I think all the financial and social training issues raised are valid. I think also though that Lisa (I think it was) is on to something. I think most men are hard-wired differently than I or most men in the field. As an illustration, I have 2 very dear male friends. One is building an inboard motor boat, and recently over a couple beers we were looking at this and discussing the process. I had to ask what I worried were dumb questions to try to understand what the process is. I care a lot for both these guys, our kids have been friends for ages, and so I was prepared to do this work, because it was obviously a lot more passionate for them than for me. I think I understood, but it only made sense during the conversation, and I couldn’t explain much of it to anyone right now.
One more interesting related observation, that may be incorrect, but for my own curiosity bears suggesting. I thinks it also may have been alluded to in the discussion so far: the most prolific writers specific to our field, (and as such the main contributors to the needed body of unique information that will further our becoming a profession) are males.
Michael Wattie, CYC, cert.
Intake Worker, MHPSU
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From: ziggy stardust
Being the only male in a graduating class of about
90 from my CYW course in 2002 was interesting to say the least. .. the
fact that I have a personal background in the field from my childhood is
a help in the field as I can better see things from a client’s point of
view... but there is a serious lack of males with the correct experience
in the field ... every job I’ve ever applied for I’ve usually been
offered ... men are needed badly in the field.
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From: Anna C
My name is Anna Cottrell and I am also a student at Mount Royal College in Calgary. I have often thought about these questions as well.
My thoughts for the first question seem to follow along similar lines as everyone else, but I also had a couple other ideas. To outside society, Child and Youth Care may simply be stereotyped as solely the work of a female, in the same way as doing the laundry, washing the dishes, and cleaning the house is. I don’t agree with these kinds of stereotypes, but somewhere, Western culture is getting the idea that a career for a male is only worthwhile if it is masculine. It seems to me that as soon as people hear the word “Care”, their minds seem to assume that only women are properly equipped to do this kind of work.
Our society was built around the idea that the men went out to work, and the women stayed home and took care of the family. Although the roles of women in the workplace are drastically changing, it seems the we cling to the idea that women are supposed to be the ones to work with children. Yes, women seem to have more of a nurturing character, but boys need strong, caring men to encourage them as they seek to know who they are and how much they’re worth. I know that in my practicum at a junior high outdoor education class, if there weren’t males around, some of these boys would not have anyone to relate to. As much as I might try to connect with the boys in the classroom, there are many things about their lives that I will never be able to understand. Some men may not have as strong an emotional side, but that does not mean they are unable to empathize with pain or joy. Our profession would benefit greatly to have more male participants.
I wonder if some men think they just wouldn’t be able to handle doing this kind of work, because they have different strengths in different areas than women. I wonder if some people, not just men, choose not to take on this career, because they are scared of how children and youth might treat them, or that they will be unable to help someone. I’ve heard so often that those in the medical profession must distance themselves so they will not fall apart when they can’t save someone. To have a relationship with someone, a true and solid one, there can’t be that kind of distance. If I am a counselor at an agency, then my focus must be the client, and I may remain distant, but if I am working at a group home or in a school situation, I think they need to know that we are there to help them, to walk beside them, to not desert them. Maybe our society is so scared of emotional people, that we stay away from any work, or experience, in which we may encounter them.
We seem to have this idea that to have emotion is not tough, it is a sign of weakness, and must be kept at a minimum. This is the reason that many children do not get the help they need, because they are told that they need to be adults. Adults, they are told, are strong, don’t need help from anyone, and don’t show any emotion. A child requires, and deserves, this freedom to feel emotion, and to know they can ask for help. In doing this, they also need to know that they are not weak, but strong. We, as Child and Youth Care Workers, have the power to show them that.
Anna
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From: ziggy stardust
Another problem I find with the Child and Youth Care
work is that many organizations are reluctant to hire men... I usually
get a job interview because of my gender but often find that a woman is
hired for the position I apply for instead of a male.. some
organizations may a have a preference for females. It is often hard for
entry level Child and Youth Care workers to get work outside of a
entirely male client organizations.
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From: Shanda Lutz
Re Ziggy’s previous mail: In response to to your concern about lack of males in the Child and Youth Care field, I am in agreement with you. I especially feel that our youth today look at most males as strong leaders in their lives. Most males (most males being the key work there) are seen as role models for the younger generation, children look up to their fathers (and their mothers don’t get me wrong). You always hear a youth saying how they hoped to be just like their parents. I just want to point out from my personal opinion that maybe people see our work as “women's work” and therefore feel as though it is not their place in the field. (Just my personal opinion.) I just want to say that your point is very logical and I hope that more males will look into joining or even taking part in the Child and Youth Care field of work.
Shanda Lutz
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From: Eric Douville
I work for the Services to Children and Adults of Prescott-Russell (near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) and we are always looking for men in the field to work with. The majority of us are females but our supervisors also appreciate what men can bring to interventions with youths. I guess it depends on the region.
Douve
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I have found that the opposite seems to happen: that men who apply get hired more readily than the women they are competing against simply because not as many men are in the field. I’ve observed that men who enter the field are at an advantage when gaining employment, especially in residential treatment, because of their size and perceived ability to handle restraints, etc. Some organizations go so far as to advertise for “male Child and Youth Care workers”.
While I certainly agree that males have a place in the field and can teach our youth important things about being male in our society, I do not see the necessity for staffing ratios based on the potential for restraint. I have observed many situations where Child and Youth Care workers, male or female, effectively avoid restraints by using sound Child and Youth Care practice.
Toni Williams
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From: Marin Jenine Lepp
Aside from the fact that it is important for youth to have positive male role models in their lives, as a female working in a group home setting I find the presence of a male staff somewhat reassuring in the event of a violent situation instigated by a youth. The simple fact of the matter is that most male youth are bigger and stronger than myself, and even if I was trained in therapeutic crisis intervention, there is a greater chance that a male would be successful in gaining control of a violent youth than a physically weaker staff member such as myself. I’m not saying that women are less capable, but the reality is that men have the physical advantage. This is just another reason why it is so important to have male Child and Youth Care counselors.
Marin
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From: Stacey McRae
I completely agree that there is a lack of males in the profession of Child and Youth Care. Unfortunately, not having men in the field hinders our profession and deters both men and woman from pursuing a career helping children and youth.
I personally believe that if there were more men like you wanting to make a significant impact on our young society, the profession would be recognized and supported with increase of wages and salaries. We are all working so hard, and we are going unnoticed by the very people that run this country. If only our political system would realize the hard work and determination of our profession. Politicians need to be personally impacted to realize that children and youth need us more than ever before. When are they going to take notice to the desperation.
I am doing my practicum with an organization that will pay an employee $500 for the recruitment of a male Child and Youth Care Counsellor. This just shows you how extinct males are in our field. It is really too bad that there aren’t more men wanting to step up and truly make a difference because they want to. Unfortunately, money makes the world go round.
Stacey McRae
Calgary, Alberta Mount Royal College
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