In the history of rare events, there’s stuff like erupting volcanoes, drivers on I-95 using their turn signal and Britney Spears using contraceptives.
Then there’s really rare.
Today, my daughter’s first-grade class is experiencing just such a thing: a male teacher.
Her regular teacher, a woman, started the school year last week. The fact that she was eight months pregnant with twins put her at a distinct disadvantage for teaching more than a few weeks. Most of us parents figured she wouldn’t make it past lunch on the first day.
Well, she’s gone and her replacement is carrying the Y chromosome and an uncontrollable urge to drink milk from the container while standing in front of the fridge.
According to the National Education Association, just 24.9 percent of the nation’s 3 million public teachers are men, a 40-year low. In 1981, 18 percent of elementary school teachers were men. Today, just 9 percent are men. Many educators argue that having a male teacher in an elementary school classroom gives boys a positive role model outside the home and lets girls see that traditional gender roles don’t have to be followed. Those are valid opinions.
So far, the only detail my daughter has passed on is that her new teacher "wears glasses." It will be interesting to see how my daughter responds to a male teacher.
If she suddenly wants to start watching Monday Night Football and calls me "dude," I might get a little concerned.