It doesn't surprise me to find that the number of men volunteering for a broad array of charities or social organizations has been falling. It's not that men don't want to volunteer. It's more that they're afraid to do so. Why? Read on:
Perhaps men are merely acting rationally. They’ve assessed the risk of volunteering to work with children, and want no part of it. If so, that’s why [Big Brother-Big Sister] rates of male participation are well below national averages, which include volunteering that doesn’t involve children.
That also includes volunteering that doesn't involve women, too.
For so many years men have been demonized by the media, by radical feminists, and anyone else with an ax to grind. Because there have been so many accusations of abuse that have turned out to be false is it any wonder why they no longer want any part of a society that doesn't trust them?
One commenter writes:
Before I got my current contract position, which is low paying for the field and rather boring, I took a local (Central New York) substitute teacher certification program. The staff at the Center were very enthusiastic about my participation, for I was the only “straight” male taking the class, out of about 25.
I was sent to the local High School for teacher shadowing for a few days. Both teachers were very good, although the female math teacher was very discouraging from the start (Having found out that her breast cancer had returned the day before didn’t help), telling the students that they should report any inappropriate behavior from me.
After completing the certification, I registered with a few local districts that are chronically short of subs. I was interviewed by the principals at several schools, but didn’t sub even once, despite strong recommendations from my former professors at the college.
One of them, a [department] chair, finally asked one of her principal friends why I couldn’t get a sub position?
The reason was simple: high liability and faculty hostility to male subs, even though the district is always very short staffed.
I don't know about the rest of you men out there, but I see volunteering under those circumstances as either be an exercise in masochism or foolhardy, leaving one's self wide open for an involuntary lesson in how our legal system works. It's no wonder the number of male volunteers in some areas has fallen off.
Until the perception that all men are potential abusers or rapists goes away, the number of male volunteers, teachers, and, come to think of it, college athletes will continue to fall off (think Duke University lacrosse).
Who needs that kind of scrutiny? Even if we are 'proven' innocent, we will still be guilty in the eyes of those that have already shown a penchant for promoting the mindset that all men are potential criminals merely waiting for the chance to pounce.
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