Opinion by Derrick Jackson, Boston Globe
EXCERPT:
According to the National Education Association, 9 percent of elementary school teachers are men.
Education researcher Shaun Johnson of Indiana University says low wages and prestige relative to what men can find elsewhere, plus notions of masculinity, fears of being accused of sexual abuse, and even undercurrents of homophobia dissuade men from the craft.
"There are so many elephants in the room with a man in a classroom of young children," said Johnson, 30, who was a fifth-grade teacher in Washington, D.C. "Token males routinely say they are under higher scrutiny by principals and parents. Men get the message something is wrong with them, from being told they can't change diapers in child care to you must always leave your classroom door open. Even when they are valued, it often comes with a stereotype. I've heard men teachers complain that they're always sent the problem students because people see them as the disciplinarian who strikes the fear of God in them."
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