To think male nursery workers should be banned for safety reasons?

This post is depressing to read because you are reading it with an emotional lens. Nobody is saying that all men are drawn to working with young children because they are perverts. And most posters are supportive of male teachers in primary and secondary schools - the discussion is about nursery. And if your husband doesn't understand that men as a sex class pose a greater risk to children in terms of sexual assaults then I hope he isn't teaching later level primary school maths which covers stats and probability.

Is paedophilia the only form of abuse that children can be subjected to in nurseries?

You literally queried whether men are more likely to be paedophiles, which means that you think women might actually be more likely to be paedophiles. No one but no one thinks that is true. It is laughable.

And no one thinks that women pose even approaching an equivalent level of risk to a child, even though of course there are women who do evil things.

Your solution was not to use childcare (fwiw I didn’t use a nursery either) but for the millions who need to, this is a good way of reducing risk (not eliminating it).

No but it is the one we are talking about. Men are more likely to commit all forms of abuse against children than women in any event.

Is paedophilia the only form of abuse that children can be subjected to in nurseries?

Not in greater numbers, but they exist. I don't trust a strange man with my children. I don't trust a strange woman with my children.

Oh ffs of course men are more likely to be paedophiles…that is batshit.

You really think in this sexist misogynistic patriarchal society that there are female paedo rings going undetected in greater numbers than men?!

Another sensible post, backed up by stats. Thank you.

My DP is a primary school teacher and this thread is so depressing to read. He chose to teach primary over secondary because a headteacher whose advice he sought – a woman – told him that primaries were woefully lacking male teachers and that it was good for children with absent fathers to have male role models, so he could make a positive contribution. Decades on, he has done exactly that. But according to this thread, he must've been drawn to working with younger kids because he's a pervert with a secret agenda, purely because he's a man. 😡

Cruelty and neglect has killed children in nurseries. It is just as serious.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wgpdpdedqo
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/uk-news/toddler-allergies-died-after-being-36042789

My daughter was in nursery from age 3 with women only. I would never put / have put my children in a nursery with men.

Then why minimise it?

We need to protect children from all types of neglect and abuse including SA but not only SA. We also absolutely can't be complacent and assume that women never neglect or abuse children because that is how some of them who have done it got away with it for so long.

Safeguarding needs to be reviewed and changed and funded correctly to protect our children.

Banning men is too simplistic and doesn't properly address the major safeguarding issues which if not changed can and will lead to other kinds of abuse.

Surely you would also not leave your child with a woman you don't know?

Oh ffs of course men are more likely to be paedophiles…that is batshit.

You really think in this sexist misogynistic patriarchal society that there are female paedo rings going undetected in greater numbers than men?!

Are they more likely to be paedophiles or more likely to be caught? Is there still a bias that makes it less likely for women to be identified? We do hear about more women paedophiles these days, so it seems it's coming more out into the open. I suspect it's more common than we know.

Even if not SA, there are other types of abuse that can do just as much damage to children. Hence why I made it a point to find a way to stay home with my own children. I didn't trust anyone with them so young.

I have a son and I completely agree with the OP.

I would never, ever leave my children with a man I don't know. Men are statistically proven to be more of a danger to both women and children than women are.
It's so idealistic and frankly disgusting that many on this thread would rather have a "male role model" in the nursery (when it's factual that many pedophiles seek out these settings to offend, so how can you be sure you're looking at a good 'male role model') than want to protect their baby/toddler against the risks.

Yes, impossible in other words.

Except that we do know that men are vastly more likely to be paedophiles than women, and that paedophiles seek out opportunities to work with children, and that only a tiny % of nursery workers are men.

If you eliminated all males from working in nurseries statistically speaking some of those will be paedophiles, and there would be a negligible impact on the workforce overall.

Here are a couple of possibly uncomfortable questions. I don’t intend to minimise cruelty and neglect towards children. It’s disgusting and those women truly deserve what they get.

But firstly, women make up the vast majority of early years workers, and you’ve identified three female early years workers convicted of abuse and neglect. Men make up a tiny proportion of early years workers yet I think, since Christmas, I’ve read about three different convictions of men for sex abuse in nurseries. Certainly two.

Secondly, is cruelty and neglect as serious as rape and sexual abuse? Are they crimes of equivalent magnitude?

Another sensible post, backed up by stats. Thank you.

My DP is a primary school teacher and this thread is so depressing to read. He chose to teach primary over secondary because a headteacher whose advice he sought – a woman – told him that primaries were woefully lacking male teachers and that it was good for children with absent fathers to have male role models, so he could make a positive contribution. Decades on, he has done exactly that. But according to this thread, he must've been drawn to working with younger kids because he's a pervert with a secret agenda, purely because he's a man. 😡

What percentage of female carers are abusive vs what percentage of male carers? Pointing at the relatively tiny numbers of bad women doesn’t change the fact that there are very high numbers of bad men.

Here are a couple of possibly uncomfortable questions. I don’t intend to minimise cruelty and neglect towards children. It’s disgusting and those women truly deserve what they get.

But firstly, women make up the vast majority of early years workers, and you’ve identified three female early years workers convicted of abuse and neglect. Men make up a tiny proportion of early years workers yet I think, since Christmas, I’ve read about three different convictions of men for sex abuse in nurseries. Certainly two.

Secondly, is cruelty and neglect as serious as rape and sexual abuse? Are they crimes of equivalent magnitude?

Of course not.

Just like there isn't an easy way to spot the difference between young women who just loves kids and those young women who end up physically abusing them which we've also had far, far too many cases of lately.