Male Nursery Staff

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My child is in Nursery after my return to work. They nursery chain have been hiring make staff recently. My child's nursery has 3 male staff.

My daughter's nappy was changed by a male member of staff. For my own personal reasons I feel upset about this but not sure if I can even say or do anything. I just don't like it.

I wouldn't like it either.

Not all men are sex offenders. But nearly all sex offenders are men. And sex offenders will seek out employment where they can access their victims.

Op, I would want to know from the nursery what processes are in place to mitigate the risk to your child. Is there CCTV in all areas, including the changing areas? Is there an arrangement so staff are never alone with children during nappy changes?

The risk of sexual abuse to the infants in their care is increased by having male staff. That is not pearl clutching hyperbole, that is simple facts based off crime data & patterns of offending. They need to have things in place to reduce this risk back to where it would be if all the staff were female. (Beyond what would be in place if all staff were female.)

If they don't, I would move my child.

No I don’t assume all men are pedophiles , but 80-90% of child sex offenders are men, and around 80% of victims are girls. So it’s just ridiculous to reverse the genders and pretend it’s exactly the same equivalence.

well there are endless threads from women complaining that their husbands don’t pull their weight with their own children but a man in a caring profession must be suspicious?

Are you also suspicious of male paediatric/neonatal doctors, male paediatric nurses or male midwives? They’ve also chosen a field where they work with babies and children. Do you question their motives?

Tbh the nursery either has good grasp of safeguarding the children and a good nappy changing set up or it doesn’t.

Presumably its one of the things you asked about/checked when you sent your child there?

There’s a nursery here that I wouldn’t ever use because of their nappy changing set up. Regardless of male or female staff. The one I used had the children kept safe, again regardless of male or female staff.

I think it is great that there are role models for the boys!

Related males are much less of a risk than unrelated males

the biggest perpetrators of SA are relatives or friends of the family - step fathers ( or someone in that position like mums boyfriend) other male relatives like uncles and grandfathers and fathers who have not lived with a child.

Good luck to you.

Wow, the ignorance is strong. https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/briefings/issues-to-consider-when-looking-at-child-abuse-statistics

Please don't make up statistics. I assume a UK reference is acceptable. The men more likely to abuse are typically not in other gender focused roles, as that brings unwanted attention.

Some of these views are so sad.

If you’re not happy move your child. What would you reasonably say?

FWIW my little boy flourished when a male nursery nurse took over his nursery. I didn’t give it a second thought. He was great!

It's quite hurtful to assume the worst of male nursery workers.

I would suggest just moving nurseries.

You must be incredibly damaged to have this viewpoint.

My son goes to nursery where there is a male nursery worker. After some initial concerns (just because male EY workers are not the norm) I’ve really come round to it, my son has fairly limited male role models (apart from his Dad, my DH). So it’s great he gets to build a relationship with another.

All nursery workers, whether male or female will be subject to the same checks and safeguarding protocols.

Incorrect. You are much more likely to be sexually abused by a family member than an unrelated male

If you aren't happy move nurseries.

We had a couple of men working at our nursery and they were amazing. It's great for young children to see men in caring roles. When one of the men left the kids were way more upset than when some of the women left as he always "played the best games" according to my DC. Positive male role models are so important

*At my DC's nurseries, nappy changing is always done in an open area. There is limited privacy for the child, but it means for the sake of the DC AND for the staff, they are visible to others, and visible on the CCTV (but genital area is NOT visible).

Surely the genital area is what you need to see to detect abuse??
When you say n appies are changed in an' open area' with limited privacy, is that not a hygiene risk?

What? Do Dads just not do parenting until Primary then?
I'd welcome some gender balance in my kid's nursery, alas it's all women. ..

Unfortunately this is true.

OP, you have obviously had some personal trauma in the past, and I am sorry. But surely if that were so, you would have taken the time and trouble to research your daughter's potential nursery better to ensure there were no male staff?

And women can abuse too - look what happened at that nursery in Plymouth.

Bottom line is thouh - YOU put her in a nursery with male staff, which you now say you don't want. So it's up to you to remove her.

There are 3 male staff members in my sons nursery and I think it's great. They're actually his favourite teachers.