P.O.box 16168

Glasgow

G13

Scotland

Phone 0141 959 4194.

January 5, 2000

The United Kingdom Men’s Movement (Scotland)

Proposals to the Scottish Parliament to enhance the educational & social development of boys.

Overview:

There is a real problem of social decay and social exclusion. We welcome the government’s tackling social exclusion. The crime figures indicate that society is unwell. If social exclusion is not is not tackled, society will suffer. The most potentially dangerous of excluded groups are young men - all human history shows that when young men are not made to feel a necessary and valued part of society, brigandry and anarchy are the result. Those who suffer most when society regresses are women, children and the old. It is therefore in the interests of all that young men should be fully integrated into society.

We feel that the first steps on the road to social inclusion should be taken throughout a boy’s schooling. To this end we have proposed the following:

First Proposal :

A commission should be established to research by what teaching methods and environments are best suited to teaching boys. A similar study should be made for the benefit of girls. Consideration should be given to the provision of boys-only and/or girls-only schooling* where it is thought it would be beneficial.

The U.K. Men’s Movement would be happy to assist in the above.

* Girl’s- only schooling is provided at present at Notre Dame High School in Glasgow. N.B. it is illegal under SDA 1975 for a local authority to provide this for one sex only.)

Detail of First Proposal:

It is now obvious that boys and girls are not interchangeable units ,that they have different learning aptitudes and preferences, and sometimes benefit from different teaching approaches and environments; (see Moir and Jesssel; Holland; McGuiness).This should be investigated further, and if necessary new methods and/or enviroments created.

Second Proposal:

We call for a Government programme to achieve gender balance in the primary and nursery education sectors, and to end the institutionalised anti-male sexism that dominates in those fields. A programme to enrol male classroom helpers should be inaugurated until this is achieved. (See attached article from TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT, 10/09/99)

Detail of Second Proposal.

There are no reasons similar to those given re. women in engineering for men not entering primary teaching ; in our experience the main reasons for men not entering are as follows:

-lack of encouragement, in some cases open or covert hostility to men entering primary teaching; many female educationalists and the EOC see this as a "turf war"

-a fear of being thought to have entered the profession in order to abuse children. This is a real fear that prevents many men from engaging in paid or unpaid involvement with young children.

- the positive aspects of working with primary school children are not clear to many young men, neither is the fact that wages for unpromoted teachers (the majority of all teachers) are exactly the same in both primary and secondary schools;

- a reluctance to enter a female-dominated workplace culture.

- young men see working with primary school children as being less enjoyable and less important than working with teenagers. Many young men that do elect to work in primaries do so because they think there is more chance of promotion.

There has been a steady haemorrhaging of men from the teaching profession, in particular primary school teaching, over the past few decades - this is unacceptable, as many children now have no or little meaningful contact with men. The various agencies contacted over the years by the U.K. Men’s Movement have failed to inaugurate any programmes to encourage men back into primary school teaching. The record of the EOC is particularly dismal. (See attached article from the Times Ed.Supp.) for detail on the above.

We believe that a Positive Action programme (N.B. positive action is legal under SDA 1975 ,as opposed to positive discrimination, which is not) should be initiated to encourage men into teaching. Such a programme should try to engage older, more rounded men, as older, family men are more likely to appreciate and enjoy working with infants than young men.

There are a great many able men languishing in unemployment or low-paid employment who would benefit from such a career-shift. A criticism of the teaching profession is that most teachers go from school to college and back to school. Consequently they have little experience of life outside of the academic environment, and many such teachers are unable to gain the respect of older boys they have to teach. Until parity is achieved, a classroom helper scheme such as that set up by Dr Holland in the U.S. should be implemented. . Dr Holland has set up a business and community funded programme for boys in the U.S.- it would be wise to consult with Dr. Holland, if he is willing and available.

Third proposal:

We call for a project, hereinafter referred to as "The Manhood Project" to be established .

The Manhood Project

Boys educational achievement has suffered in recent years. (See attached article from T.E.S., 10/9/99). There has been a concerted and extermely unpleasant attack on men, boys and fatherhood that would, quite rightly, be described as deeply offensive if it were based on race.

Consequently the self esteem of boys and young men has declined sharply. Many boys lack male role models in their lives. There is no coherent and consistent process to assist boys, as a group, to become men. There are now no cultural milestones, no signposts and no helping hands on the difficult journey into manhood.

Many traditional cultures value, as a necessity, a formal process, frequently at a specific age, of allowing boys to ‘graduate’ as men and to be admitted into the male traditions of their society. Our society has no such process, and suffers enormously as a result.

Since the end of National Service and large-scale apprenticeships for young men, male participation in both community life and male sense of involvement in communities has fallen, we need to institute a means of socialising boys so that they will feel a part of our society, respect social values and strive to become accepted as men. The school system is the only feasible means of reaching out to the entire group of boys in our society. It is proposed that ‘a ‘Manhood Project’ be set up and administered via the school system.

It is not only boys who will benefit from such a project - young men confirmed and respected in their status as men are much less likely to be criminal or anti-social.

The traditional last resort of the socially disenfranchised is violence - we see this all around us as our communities self-destruct.

Many offer panaceas - all are based on economics. This is no panacea, no miracle cure but an attempt to restore male spirituality* and masculine pride - if it succeeds it will not cure all of our ills but it will cure many of them. Men who are deeply aware of and secure in their masculinity, are a potent force for social well-being.

* "Spirituality" is notoriously difficult to define, it is easier experienced than explained, and varies depending on religious belief, degree of that belief, and culture. We offer as a definition;

A profound and humble sense of oneself in the greater scheme of things, and a secure acceptance of that place. The striving to replace egotism and self-centred conceit with a desire to live a moral life.

Foreword:

"If the young men are not initiated, they will burn down the village for the warmth."

Almost every society which operates at village/tribal level has a formal process to educate and initiate boys into joining the community of adult males, and preparing them for their responsibilities as men and future fathers. These societies have evidently found it necessary to do this to assist the potentially wayward side of masculinity to express itself in positive ways

Various efforts over the years have been made to socialise our youth. Those which still exist cater to a comparatively small section who would probably be the most socially responsible in any event.

While the motives of the founders of these organisations vary, the theme of socialising youth and encouraging responsible behaviour is a common one. Organisations like The Duke of Edinburgh Award, the Scouts and Boys Brigade, Outward Bound, and the Armed Forces ‘Cadet’ organisations all perform useful roles.

What is lacking is a scheme which encompasses all boys and which is specifically geared to meet their needs, and to be recognised and respected by them and be instrumental in initiating them into manhood, and preparing them for fatherhood.

In previous decades, thousands of raw, callow boys were de facto initiated by either national conscription or apprenticeship in shipyards and factories. It is not much understood or appreciated what a lasting effect there was on many boys from moving into a largely male community in engineering or shipbuilding. The older tradesmen who worked there had often sailed the seven seas ( literally), either as merchant seamen many in wartime.

Others in factories, shops and offices had fought for our freedom in far off lands. were seasoned and worldly wise, respect for them was clearly evident, and many of them naturally assumed the role of mentor to the young men who fell within their ambit. They formed a large and seasoned body of adult males which many apprentices aspired to join.

In the 1990s, work in a call centre or in a supermarket does not have anything like the same effect on teenage boys. The large body of seasoned men are not there, and the work is not challenging in a male sense, i.e. the elements of endurance, adventure and comradeship are missing. .

Freud was of the opinion that men needed ‘love’ and ‘work’ in order to civilise them. We would agree, and include family responsibilities in that posit. The devastation of the last two decades, both in unemployment and in increased family breakdown, has left thousands of young men with less of these elements .We can see the socially destructive effects of this in the crime rate and in random violence in our society. It is little appreciated that the crime rate in the 50’s was one sixth of present day levels. Those who sneer at the 50s as a ‘mythical golden age’ obviously do not realise what a stable and socially cohesive society Britain had during this period.

It is obvious to all that many young men (and women) have never learned to be socially responsible. We have in our midst a large number of damaged, dangerous and irresponsible men who, even in their mid-thirties, are emotionally still in adolescence. Given the preponderance of single-mother led households and a primary school system in which 92% of teachers are female, many boys now lack positive male role models from which to learn.

This is a problem particular to boys, as most girls have the daily influence of females in their lives from which to learn, (we caution that it is not yet fully appreciated what effect the lack of an authoritative, loving father is having on girls and young women) It is the problem of our ‘Lost Boys’ which presses to be addressed.

It is instructive to compare our situation with the USA experience, particularly that of Black America. Most commentators acknowledge that family life over the last two decades has virtually collapsed in the urban Black American community. Over this period, the wage rates fell and job prospects disappeared for urban Black males. The Federal government encouraged family breakdown through the absurd AFDC scheme ( Aid to Families with Dependent Children) with the result that 90% of urban Black American households is headed by a single parent mother. The boys living in these households have had few responsible male role models . Instead, ironically, they create male initiation rituals of their own. After joining one of the numerous street gangs, boys will often undergo initiation by committing a robbery, or in extreme cases, a murder of a rival gang member. The havoc which was wrought by these youths on American streets is all too obvious.

Currently, in the late 90s, the U.S. economy appears to be doing well and crime rates are down.

Increased wealth and a reduction in crime levels are not, however, flawless indicators of social well-being- it does not mean that American family life has been re-built. Instead, the Government has given the uninitiated youth the dubious ‘correctional’ benefits of prison . Currently, (July 1999), there are 1.8 million Americans in jail and 1 in 4 Black American males is at some point in the criminal justice system, either awaiting trial, in jail or on probation.

This is not a recipe for success or for a happy, healthy society! Are we to resign ourselves to criminalising large sections of our young men indefinitely?

For years now, the Black American educational psychologist, Dr. Spencer Holland has been trying to remedy the disastrous outlook for Black boys (and in a letter to us, expressed equal concern for all boys). He concluded that these youngsters urgently needed responsible male role models in their lives.

The boys he worked with only ever came into contact with the transient partners of these mothers who were all too often either petty criminals, junkies, alcoholics or all three at once. Within the primary school system, they were exposed to an entirely female teaching force and their willingness to learn plummeted.

Dr. Holland realised that these boys had lost all respect for their mothers, and all respect for women. He realised that only men could effectively reach these boys. He encouraged upstanding Black men to help out as classroom assistants in schools. The boy’s learning achievements picked up accordingly. He also sponsored events at which high-achieving Black men came to speak to the school students, helping them to raise their sights to a higher level.

The problems faced by disadvantaged Black American boys are mirrored, albeit to a lesser extent, by British boys, especially those living in areas affected by the loss of 5 million full time jobs in manufacturing over the last two decades. What is needed is a programme to address these problems, which is why we submit The Manhood Project.

The Manhood Project:

Our proposal is to integrate a number of time blocks into the school year, for every year of a boy’s schooling. During these blocks, boys will go to residential centres in rural locations. The centres used could be existing outdoor centres, moth-balled or under- used army camps.We recommend that each centre or group at the same centre only contains six or so boys from each school. This is to avoid any ‘pack mentality’ developing, and to assist in social development by introducing other children. To assist in this programme it would be beneficial if fathers, suitably vetted by SCRO, were able to go along and participate.

It is essential that these camps are all-male. It would defeat the purpose if women were included in any capacity. There is nothing to offend girls or women in this; The Boy’s Brigade, Scouts, Cadets and other hitherto boys-only organisations have all now admitted girls, many in order to gain lottery funding from N.L.C.B. Girls, quite rightly, have boy-free zones in which to develop their femininity and womanhood.* Equality and fairness, not to mention that quality most suppressed by Political Correctness, common sense, dictate that boys should have the same opportunities.)

* (Strangely, no pressure has been put on thousands of female - only groups such as the Girl-Guides to accept men or boys.)

An important benefit of male-only camps is that the boys would, as they get older, take on more of the administrative tasks and "housework", and thereby become more self-sufficient, and realise the importance of being a "team player".It would also help them understand their mother’s difficulties better!

These centres will provide a blend of adventure training & physical exercise as well as a series of seminars on manhood. In the earlier years of a child, these summer camps would be largely about activity, fun , noise, togetherness, male presence and the lack of female presence. In short, giving boys the space to be boys, and to revel in being boys.

The collected wisdom of existing youth organisations could be tapped into to create a programme for the different age groups involved. The country also contains a wealth of experienced former army NCOs, many of whom find no outlet for their skills in instructing , managing and mentoring young men. Many end up as supermarket security guards, a grossly ineffective use of their acquired skills. It is recommended that such skills could be put to good use in training our boys.

The Airborne Initiative, a charity set up to move young offenders away from crime, used ex-special forces personnel of all ranks to run a ten-week course that was a mix of vocational skills and challenging adventure training. It had a higher than normal success in reducing recidivism.(There is a misconception amongst those with no military experience that military men see leadership as a matter of shouting and bullying - nothing could be further from the truth)

A provisional outline of the physical aspects is given below. This would be combined with a seminar programme on the traditional male values of heroism, endurance, loyalty and integrity.

It would also be beneficial if men of action, or those who would otherwise be respected by young boys , could come along and give talks to the boys. Servicemen, aid workers who had served in dangerous or exotic locations, men from the emergency services, sportsmen suggest themselves. The ordinary "Joe Soap" who may have a dull job, or no job, but who could communicate particularly well with boys and connect with them, and pass on good social values, would also be welcome.

Below are set out some possibilities for such centres; the main ethos of these centres should be that boys get the space to be boys:to run, to wrestle, to shout, to climb or even to fight in some circumstances

. The programme should be flexible - this is intended as a very rough blueprint - it is hoped that experience be refined and defined by experience.

In addition, it would be highly desirable to encourage civilian sources such as diving clubs, flying clubs, pot-holing or climbing clubs, the rescue services and the Armed Forces, to volunteer "thrill-intensive" experiences for as many boys as possible. Set out below are examples of Project activies,aims and objectives for three significant ages.

Age range Activity

8 yrs old: One week’s duration.

Some very safe hillwalking, a night or two camping (which children find to be especially magical), junior (i.e. very safe, fun-only assault courses and adventure training) very basic, strictly supervised canoeing or rock climbing (roped throughout, as in indoor rock-walls, which could also be used ), mountain biking, horse riding and any other age appropriate activity.. At this age the emphasis is greatly on fun, with high noise levels and boisterous activity to be frequently tolerated, if not encouraged. Team sports should be played often, sometimes unsupervised.

Moral instruction on agreed principles should be given and explained. Discussions on what they expect from their parent(s), what various opinions in society feels they are entitled to from their parent(s).

It is an extremely traumatic experience in a child’s life to be "one parent short." Course leaders should strive to instil the notion that those children who are short of a parent, or whose parents are separated, are in no way to blame, and that they are of equal worth to other children. Ideally this should have been addressed at a much earlier age , but at this stage it is most important that it should not be swept under the carpet, but acknowledged sypathetically.

At this juncture it is important to spell out the significance of sport, what is lacking from it today and which should be reintroduced. We beg the readers indulgence to consider the two anecdotes.

The importance of games and team sports to boys men and society is often derided or trivialised. To do so is to completely miss the point. . The original benefits of sport before professionalism sullied it were manifold, but ones that had great significance in the larger field of life were that it taught boys to win gracefully, to give 100% effort to the team, and more importantly, to lose gracefully. To be a good loser nowadays is to invite ridicule. - any boy’s football match is manifest with arguement, fouling and cheating with fathers ranting on the sidelines. This is a corrosive attitude that has pervaded wider society - no one wins all the time, not in sport, and certainly not in life. The ancient Greeks said "I love my opponent because he brings out the best in me".

Sapper John McLean took up boxing in the Army. He lost his first ten fights. He learned to accept defeat graciously, even laughingly referring to himself as "regimental punchbag" but he never gave less than 100%. Being a winner is relatively easy, but it is in defeat that character is formed.

In the late 80’s Sapper McLean won the Combined Services Championship five years running, boxed for Scotland ,and won the A.B.A. title, being as good a winner as he had been a loser.

Sir Stanley Mathews, probably the greatest footballer England ever produced, played at the top level until he retired aged 51! In his long and illustrious career, he was never, ever sent off or even booked. Contrast this with the appalling displays of petulance, foul play, gamesmanship and outright cheating and exhibited by our professional sports "heroes" of today. The "win at all costs, and if you can’t win be a sore loser" attitude in sport has spread into the national character It is the seedcorn of vendetta and viciousness, rapacity and ruthlessness.

The Manhood Project course leaders will allow different values to develop. In team sports the emphasis should not be on winning, but on enjoyment, bonding with other boys, agreeing the rules and then honouring them. Cheating should be strongly disapproved of ,and clearly explained why. "Fair Play Awards" of some sort should be given.

11 yrs old: One week as above but more advanced;

Hillwalking, camping, lots of team and individual sports, with emphasis not so much on winning, but on enjoyment, and giving 100% to the team. Bonding with other boys, agreeing the rules of the game and then sticking to them. Learning to apply the same to other agreements made. Learning to volunteer to do your fair share of the work, even when tired or hungry.

Talks on morality, what they feel is moral, and what society feels is moral. Discussions on issues they feel are of importance to them. Bags of fun, bags of noise, bags of activity. Periods of calm and reflection ,and periods of instruction.

13 yrs old: This period of ten days, advanced adventure training;

Formal and informal discussions on what is important to them and what society expects from them . Fun is still on the curriculum, but a more serious, portentous note is raised. Some physical discomfort should be experienced, as the boys growing physical abilities should be tested.

A strong emphasis should be put on a formal address to inform them that they are at the entrance to manhood, and that the mind, body and spirit all have to be developed. Again strongly emphasise that it is their journey- men will show the way, but that they must walk the difficult steps themselves.

15 yrs old: Three one-week courses, spread over the year, starting as near to 15th birthday as possible.

This is the major reason for the years that have gone before - 3 weeks of communal male experience, culminating in initiation and welcoming into the world of men. A wild and remote setting is essential for at least the solitary part of this experience.

There should be elements of hardship, discomfort and loneliness and percieved if not actual danger in these weeks, in particular the latter week. Programme will include both team events and an individual, solitary endurance test. There should also be a comparatively restful day of solitude to allow the initiate to focus his thoughts. (There are many people in society today who have never experienced a day’s solitude or the benefits that accrue from it.)

The initiation’s end should be marked with a some ceremony to signify "the putting away of childish things". The penultimate day should also include the young man being made welcome to man’s estate by the course supervisors and attached fathers. Instruction from respected elders on the qualities that traditionally defined manhood - courage, loyalty, endurance, a sense of fair play, spiritual and moral strength should be given throughout this fortnight.

There should then be a "graduation" at which the mother will be made most welcome.

We recommend that each centre or group at the same centre only contains six or so boys from each school, to avoid any ‘pack mentality’ developing, and to assist social development To assist in this programme it would be beneficial if fathers, suitably vetted by SCRO, were able to go along and participate. It is essential that these camps are all-male. It would defeat the purpose if women were included in any capacity.

We feel sure that most boys would warm to such a programme. It would set their horizons far higher than they are presently and give them a positive approach to the society in which they live. The above programme has implications for the organisation of schools and also for the girls in each year group. A suitable programme could be devised for the girls at each age range, but this is outside the scope of this document.

We are aware that parts of this Manhood Project may come into conflict with SDA 1975 . The SDA should be amended if necessary or, better still, girls should be provided with a rites of passage experience.(Not being women we have no expertise at all to offer in that field!)

It is estimated that a ballpark figure of �25- �30 million pounds per year may be incurred, after start -up costs to fund the above programme. Comparing this figure with the fact that one murder case, and the subsequent incarceration of the offender, can cost over �1.5 million pounds (and this is merely the financial cost), the programme appears to be very good value. The costs of not introducing such a programme are enormous.

We commend ‘The Manhood Project’ to the Scottish parliament.

George McAulay

Email [email protected]

January 5, 2000

It comes as no surprise to anyone connected to the UK Men’s Movement that less than 1% of the 5,000 classroom assistants appointed to Scottish primary schools are expected to be men.

We have long been aware of the feminist ideal of men being totally excluded from any part of a child’s upbringing, be it in the family or the classroom. It galls me to admit it,but they have been almost completely successful in the pursuit of the latter half of this odious and socially harmful objective.

Over the last seven years, the U.K. Men’s Movement has made representations to the Scottish Office Education Dept. Scottish Education Minister Brian Wilson, the Educational Institute of Scotland, the (so called) Equal Opportunities Commission, the D.E.F.E. and two Education Ministers (Sheppard and Blunkett) about the sorry state of boy’s education.

For most of that time,the line taken was to deny there was a problem,and when it became undeniable, they sought refuge in their traditional apparatchik tools of obfuscation and delay.

One of our members,who is a teacher, rather bravely (considering the long and vindictive arm of political correctness) led the fight to get the problem of "the lost boys" admitted - getting it fixed is going to take a lot more effort, as it is not open to a "quick-fix" solution.

The problem is multi-faceted , much of it outwith the remit of education.It will not be cured by P.C. nostrums administered by man-hating feminist zealots. It will not even be helped much even by normal, nice, female teachers, even clever and competent female teachers .

This is not merely our own observations, but also those of a man whose work I have known of and respected for some ten years, and with whom I have corresponded, the educational pyschologist, Dr Spencer Holland.

Dr.Holland is American,and he is Black (The fact that he is black was fortunate,as it meant he was spared a double-dose of opprobrium from P.C. ideologues)

. Most of Dr. Holland’s work took place in inner- city schools in the U.S.where a staggering 90% of families are single- mother led. He saw that young boys did as well as girls until about the onset of puberty,when results, attendance and behavior nose-dived.

He identified the problem as these boys having no respect at all for women, and no positive male role models. For reasons of space, I can’t go into all the reasons for this should be, but Dr. Holland did manage to get a class helper project adopted in three U.S. States, using unpaid male volunteers anxious to help the lost boys of Black America.

I remember seeing one who introduced himself as being a lawyer who flew F-15 fighters at the weekend with the Air National Guard.

The day job may have sucked in the eyes of his youthful charges (and a few of perhaps!) but his weekend job kicked ass ! Young boys are still impressed by the heroic and honourable. They might tell Miss Brodie to shove it, but they will walk softly and stand in awe of a teacher who’s a Top - Gun .

They will try to earn his respect.

Dr. Holland’s downfall was sadly inevitable when ,on national television he said;

"to teach these boys, a black man is best, a white man is good, but a woman, any woman, is no good at all."

Oh dear oh dear. It is not profitable to point out that the Emperor is buck- nekkid in a society where P.C. rules.

The feminist bigots in the U.S. equivalent of our own appalling so- called "Equal" Opportunities Comission went to court and won a case, saying that it was a discrimination against "wimmin".

Top Gun, he crashed and burned. The broomstick -jockeys, shot down the jet-jockeys , and the lost boys, well, they just went back to screwing - up in the class and shooting- up in the streets.

Armageddon ? Who cares- gotta be Politically Correct at all times,right?

The U.K. Men’s Movement has submitted over the years our own analysis of the problem, plus Dr. Holland’s scheme to the above mentioned .

Some months ago, I inflicted myself at a conference held in the Unit for the Study of Government at Edinburgh University ( only a very few, tame P.C. geldings get invited). There were about 90 women present, including Morag Alexander, head of the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland, and Ester Brietenbach, advisor on women’s issues to the Scottish Parliament .(A snip at �62,000 p.a. even if it is probably an illegally created post ) . The conference was ostensibly about gender research , but to me it seemed to be all about creating more "Jobs for the Girls".

I suggested to Alexander and Brietenbach that they might try researching, amongst other things, why boys are underachieving at school. I was completely unsurprised when this suggestion was not embraced with any enthusiasm. One of the two "token men" present, the EOC’s David Perfect , flim-flammed and claimed that the EOC had supported some initiatives for boys. When I challenged him to name just one he couldn’t.

Give the devil her due, the EOC has learned a few tricks over the years we have challenged their (deliberately?) abyssmal record in seeking male equality - one of their scams is to give written or verbal support to a male issue,but then do nothing and spend nothing in support.

Contrast this with the aggressively pro-active approach they take on women’s issues, and the millions spent on EOC -backed initiatives for girls and women, such as W.I.S.T., W.iI.S.E., WOW, GETSET, and other schemes to induce women into engineering jobs they clearly do not want. Another apparent scam is to produce what we consider to be a guide on how to circumvent or avoid the Sex Discrimination Act whenever we point out discrimination against men, (such as in women-only leisure facilities or Army fitness testing).

This new job creation scheme appears to be a grotesque parody of the Holland project we have outlined, giving boys just what they don’t need - - more women in schools.

Press coverage has indicated a low level of men applying for the jobs, and cites the comparitively low wage on offer as a reason.

This misses the pertininent point of this scam, which is has been cooked-up by feminist activists -- the creation of lots of part-time jobs for single-mothers, who can have their salaries doubled,or in some cases even trebled, by Family Credit, Housing Benefit, Childcare Allowance and other benefit top-ups.Low pay for men, great pay for an unskilled single mother - no wonder there were not many male applicants.

As a sorry footnote to this article, I have volunteered 3 times to be an unpaid adult helper on my son’s annual primary school trip. I managed to get on on last years trip, and despite my being middle aged and balding, and therefore terminally uncool, I enjoyed myself tremendously,and I flatter myself the kids did too. I was the only man on the trip.

Surprise, surprise, this year all the helpers had been picked before I knew about it. Surprise again, they were all women.

I wrote to the headmistress asking her to ensure that I was included in next year’s trip and urged her to be pro-active in encouraging dads to volunteer. I recieved a fairly cool, standard reply .

I strongly believe that this headmistress is very much committed to giving ALL the kids at her school the best education they can have - it is all the more sad and disappointing to be left with the impression that her vision does not encompass men in their education. It is, of course, also important for girls to be taught by, or to otherwise be influenced by men in their formative years.

The Heedie does have fathers running the football teams, and a few other extra-mural activities, but there is a complete absence of, and a failure to lobby for, more men in paid jobs that bring them into significant contact with the kids.

My sons’ school, Bankhead Primary in Glasgow, has 50+ people employed therein .

Only the janitor is male. How can this inequality has escaped the "equality" zealots of the, "Equal(?)" Opportunities Commission.?

Perhaps The Primary One mathematics of equality seems to be beyond the EOC and the rest of the loony "equality" industry - to be equal, you have to give up some of what you have more of, as well as grabbing what you want. Society and it’s institutions must be turned topsy-turvy to allow five-foot nothing women to be cops or firefighters, (or even more ludicrously, infantry), but women won’t stand for any invasion on their turf. There’s a word for it.

Hypocrisy.

Recent publicity generated by the UKMen’s Movement has resulted in a few damage-limitation soundbites being uttered by assorted politicos saying they recognise the problem ,and want to address it. We’ll believe it when it happens- till then we’ll kick ass and take names!