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

433 replies

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 18:47

I KNOW most men who work in them are fine but sexual abuse in nurseries is overwhelmingly committed by men. No more men, much less abuse risk.
Yes we need more CCTV etc to watch bad women but it cuts SA risk immeasurably.

We can still have male primary teachers etc kids are old enough to speak up then.

And yes, you can ban on the basis of sex for safety reasons. In women's refuges, eg.

OP posts:
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SleeplessInWherever · 13/02/2026 20:46

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:45

Why is it offensive to prioritise children's safety from sexual abuse over men's feelings???

I DON 'T want to upset any men, but there are worse things in the world than hurt feelings.

Men and boys feelings, you said?

Boys are children, and this thread is about the safety of all children. So maybe don’t exclude the feelings of male ones.

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:46

MyLimeGuide · 13/02/2026 20:45

I dont care about a guardian article. I believe you are being very very unreasonable.

Why? Please explain.

OP posts:
SouthLondonMum22 · 13/02/2026 20:46

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:43

Men are already restricted from working in female DV & rape crisis centres, for one.

Which makes sense. It's a woman's only space.

Nurseries aren't the same thing.

MyLimeGuide · 13/02/2026 20:46

SleeplessInWherever · 13/02/2026 20:44

Women's safety and kids' safety is more important than men & boys' feelings

Lovely sentiment for those of us that have sons.

I know right! Sickening.

Passingthrough123 · 13/02/2026 20:46

hoarahloux · 13/02/2026 19:57

It isn't a man issue. It's a safeguarding issue.

Why was Vincent Chan ever allowed to be alone with a child long enough to rape them? Why was Vanessa George alone with a child long enough to take sexual images of them?

I don't think CCTV is the answer, particularly as it would be completely inappropriate to have CCTV in toilet or changing areas. Early years settings need to have robust safeguarding arrangements. If that means no staff is ever alone with a child, that's what needs to happen. That won't be popular because it means settings need more staff. It would mean settings not working on skeleton staff barely meeting ratios. It means proper funding, not what they currently get.

Day nurseries scrape by on the minimum staffing required, using building ratio and other loopholes and that's why these terrible events can happen. It needs to change. Banning men would be the cheap and easy way and still leave children in danger. But no one wants to hear that, least of all the government.

Finally a sensible comment.

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:46

Midnights68 · 13/02/2026 20:45

I have no idea what the actual statistics are but men make up a tiny proportion of early years workers and yet we’ve seen a significant number of horrific cases recently involving men who working in nurseries.

Of course women also offend, and I’m not dismissing that, but I can’t think of that many high profile incidents in the last 6-12 months, and they make up the majority of the early years workforce.

So I really don’t think it’s a reassuring answer to bleat about ‘women offending too!’

I’m not sure if I’m in favour of banning men from nurseries, but I don’t think nurseries should be so desperate to hire them just for wokery.

Thank you!

OP posts:
Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:45

SleeplessInWherever · 13/02/2026 20:44

Women's safety and kids' safety is more important than men & boys' feelings

Lovely sentiment for those of us that have sons.

Why is it offensive to prioritise children's safety from sexual abuse over men's feelings???

I DON 'T want to upset any men, but there are worse things in the world than hurt feelings.

OP posts:
District66 · 13/02/2026 20:45

Yes

Midnights68 · 13/02/2026 20:45

I have no idea what the actual statistics are but men make up a tiny proportion of early years workers and yet we’ve seen a significant number of horrific cases recently involving men who working in nurseries.

Of course women also offend, and I’m not dismissing that, but I can’t think of that many high profile incidents in the last 6-12 months, and they make up the majority of the early years workforce.

So I really don’t think it’s a reassuring answer to bleat about ‘women offending too!’

I’m not sure if I’m in favour of banning men from nurseries, but I don’t think nurseries should be so desperate to hire them just for wokery.

SouthLondonMum22 · 13/02/2026 20:45

Maray1967 · 13/02/2026 20:41

But when you know that your dad, brother, uncle etc are decent people, and are pretty sure that your DH’s relatives are as well, then the threat does not lie within the family.

Don't you think those who have had relatives who have SA their children thought that they knew their dad, brother or uncle was a decent person?

MyLimeGuide · 13/02/2026 20:45

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 19:28

So women's rational fears cause men's misogyny? Blaming, much?

Moreover, I am NOT saying every man is a nonce. The Guardian article quotes studies showing men who are are more likely to seek out childcare jobs. They are NOT representative of all men.

Of course most are fine.

I dont care about a guardian article. I believe you are being very very unreasonable.

SleeplessInWherever · 13/02/2026 20:44

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:41

I see what you mean but the fact remains nursery workers provide intimate care which creates unique opportunities.

'And I really wouldn’t want my sons to grow up in a society which considers them so dangerous that they can’t have contact with young children. I think that’s likely to cause far more problems than a ban on men working with children would solve.'

Women's safety and kids' safety is more important than men & boys' feelings.

They should not feel hurt! I don't want that.

Most men are NOT bad. The problem is that the ones volunteering for nursery work are much more likely to be.

Women's safety and kids' safety is more important than men & boys' feelings

Lovely sentiment for those of us that have sons.

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:44

SpiritAdder · 13/02/2026 20:39

Not this topic again.
pushing women back into low status, back breaking caring roles because

  • think of the children and
  • dirty old men love a sponge bath from young women
instead of having better safeguards in place

And why do you assume old men would only want a female carer because they're creepy?

OP posts:
Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:43

SouthLondonMum22 · 13/02/2026 20:40

It isn't just about their right to be employed, it's about everyone's right to be employed without restrictions based on their sex.

Gender discrimination laws would have to be changed or at least adjusted somehow and it would open a discussion about other roles too which would highly unlikely be limited to restricting men only.

Men are already restricted from working in female DV & rape crisis centres, for one.

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Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:42

Tackthat · 13/02/2026 20:42

Time to pay women more. They are leaving in droves and then unemployable men are being pushed in childcare.

Yes!

OP posts:
Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:42

SpiritAdder · 13/02/2026 20:39

Not this topic again.
pushing women back into low status, back breaking caring roles because

  • think of the children and
  • dirty old men love a sponge bath from young women
instead of having better safeguards in place

What a reductive reply.

The whole point is care work should not be low status or breaking anyone's back. All carers need better pay, conditions, training and respect.

OP posts:
Tackthat · 13/02/2026 20:42

Time to pay women more. They are leaving in droves and then unemployable men are being pushed in childcare.

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:41

Circe7 · 13/02/2026 20:31

I think the idea that the risk to children dramatically decreases as soon as a child is verbal is simplistic and naive. Many children, teenagers and in fact adults don’t report sexual abuse for all sorts of reasons. Around a third don’t tell anyone, probably higher at primary school age.

Teenagers are at far higher risk of sexual abuse than younger children. The NSPCC says over 10x higher risk. So there would be more logic to banning men from working with teenagers than young children.

I don’t think we should ban men from working with children at all but banning them from early years settings would almost certainly open up a debate about primary schools/ coaching / care for older children etc. And why would a man train as a primary school teacher just after men had been banned from working with children just a few months younger. It would absolutely cast doubt on the intentions of any man choosing to work with children.

And I really wouldn’t want my sons to grow up in a society which considers them so dangerous that they can’t have contact with young children. I think that’s likely to cause far more problems than a ban on men working with children would solve.

I see what you mean but the fact remains nursery workers provide intimate care which creates unique opportunities.

'And I really wouldn’t want my sons to grow up in a society which considers them so dangerous that they can’t have contact with young children. I think that’s likely to cause far more problems than a ban on men working with children would solve.'

Women's safety and kids' safety is more important than men & boys' feelings.

They should not feel hurt! I don't want that.

Most men are NOT bad. The problem is that the ones volunteering for nursery work are much more likely to be.

OP posts:
Maray1967 · 13/02/2026 20:41

TittyGajillions · 13/02/2026 19:00

Male friends and family members are way more likely to abuse children.

But when you know that your dad, brother, uncle etc are decent people, and are pretty sure that your DH’s relatives are as well, then the threat does not lie within the family.

SouthLondonMum22 · 13/02/2026 20:40

Purplepelican3 · 13/02/2026 20:36

You reap what you sow ..
We are having this discussion because men need to do better
It's not all men
But it's nearly always a man
They won't be banned from nurseries though
Their right to be employed with no restrictions
Is more important than a child not being sexually abused

It isn't just about their right to be employed, it's about everyone's right to be employed without restrictions based on their sex.

Gender discrimination laws would have to be changed or at least adjusted somehow and it would open a discussion about other roles too which would highly unlikely be limited to restricting men only.

SpiritAdder · 13/02/2026 20:39

Not this topic again.
pushing women back into low status, back breaking caring roles because

  • think of the children and
  • dirty old men love a sponge bath from young women
instead of having better safeguards in place
Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:39

beeautifullif3 · 13/02/2026 20:34

What the actual fuck are you chatting about 🤦‍♀️

Why do you find it unbelievable that many elderly men are sexually abused by male carers?

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BlueJuniper94 · 13/02/2026 20:38

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:23

Female childcare workers need higher pay, training and respect.

I agree, quality care costs money.

Carla786 · 13/02/2026 20:38

BlueJuniper94 · 13/02/2026 19:44

What studies

TRIGGER WARNING

Look at this article :

Quotes : Every day on average, at least three cases of sexual and physical misconduct are reported in Australian childcare centres.
.
Michael Salter, a professor of criminology at the University of New South Wales, said many cases of sexual abuse in child care only came to light when offenders uploaded evidence of their crimes online, not because centres detected or reported the abuse.

Professor Salter said the sharing of this disturbing material had been facilitated by the so-called dark web, enabled by anonymising browser software such as Tor, and encrypted messaging services such as Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp. "There's about 45,000 child sexual abuse websites just on the Tor platform alone."It's estimated that the population of child sex offenders on the dark web numbers in its millions —

Centre for Child Protection, the creator of Arachnid — a system that hunts child abuse material across the web, including the dark web. Most of the material is too explicit to show, but the discussions reveal how organised and deviant they really are.

One of these guides instructs predators applying for work at childcare centres on how to answer job interview questions about why they want to work with children.
"First of all, I love children. And since I don't have any of my own yet, I really feel like I'm missing out on something very important in life, that is being a father and having the role of taking care of and giving safety to children. I would really like to have this opportunity since I look at this profession and role as a gift," the guide suggests as an answer.

"One really good news for us paedophiles is that most daycare centers, or any similar institutions, look at men as a positive thing. This is because they want the children to have male role models — this is actually a very important subject in children pedagogy today," the handbook says.

Elsewhere, a forum user posts a step-by-step guide to abusing children.

  1. work or volunteer… at a daycare and gain the trust of adults and kiddies.
  2. Bring toys to train target… make sure you aren't in view of any cameras unless it's your own then film away …
  3. massage target to relax them…

One post from August this year reads: "My wife owns the daycare, and yes, she's a pedo, so I have access to babies.I like kissing the little ones"

Another user posted in December last year: "There is a secret room where I can play with them. If anyone wants to know more, I'll tell you in private."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/paedophiles-share-childcare-abuse-tips-on-dark-web/105938932

On the dark web, predators are 'hunting in packs' to target childcare

Paedophiles are using the dark web to share information about how to gain access to childcare centres to sexually abuse babies and toddlers while avoiding getting caught.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/paedophiles-share-childcare-abuse-tips-on-dark-web/105938932

OP posts:
Purplepelican3 · 13/02/2026 20:36

You reap what you sow ..
We are having this discussion because men need to do better
It's not all men
But it's nearly always a man
They won't be banned from nurseries though
Their right to be employed with no restrictions
Is more important than a child not being sexually abused

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