International Men’s Day is a brilliant opportunity to talk all things men’s mental health. There are all sorts of challenges facing the men in our lives, and the organisation ‘UK Men’s Day’ states that in 2021 nearly 5,000 men lost their lives to suicide in the UK alone. Men also make up 95% of the UK prison population.
In the Commons this week I’ve been talking about the role of men, and male role models, particularly in our schools. In the UK, just 14% of primary and nursery teachers are male. When we then look at schools themselves, 3,240 primary schools in the UK have no male teachers on the payroll at all.
It’s my firm belief that getting more male teachers into our schools, especially in primary and early years settings where the figures are worst, is crucial to ensuring that boys and young men have aspirational, positive figures to learn from.
The East Midlands is the most unequal picture. A third of state schools in the region do not have a single male classroom teacher – the highest level of disparity in the country.
That’s thousands in the East Midlands and potentially over a million children nationally who don’t have a single male role model in an education setting. This is worrying, when we already know that nationally we have 2.5 million kids growing up without a father figure at home. We have 30,000 children being exposed to some form of domestic abuse. Where do these kids learn about positive male behaviours and relationships?
In these situations it’s even more crucial for these boys to grow up with at least one positive male role model in their lives, not least so they can emulate positive behaviour and develop traits that are constructive to not just themselves but also to others around them, such as in their relationships with women. Where do our boys learn to be men, if they aren’t surrounded with good examples?
The figures make for grim reading but it emphasises how we could affect positive change, especially in our most disadvantaged communities, through encouraging more men in to our primary schools and early years settings.
This last week I’ve had the opportunity to talk about this topic again, after I was lucky enough to be granted a Westminster Hall debate on getting more men into teaching careers. It’s just one example of subjects and disparities that we can raise at this time of year, on International Mens Day, and highlight some of the challenges, and some solutions.
This International Men’s Day is a great opportunity to call on those men out there who are thinking about a career path or even those considering changing careers, to consider the impact they can have, by becoming a teacher. It’s a great chance also to think about the men in your lives, to check that they are ok, and look after them!
