Frank works in childcare: ‘Men see me as a threat or as a ridiculous idiot’
In the Netherlands, only 6% of childcare workers are male. So is Frank van Wijk (55). He works full time in daycare The Outhousewhich he runs with his wife.
When Frank’s wife starts a childcare in 2007, he still works in education himself. Three years later, he decides to combine his job as a teacher with working at the nursery. He likes this so much that since 2017 he and his wife have been running the daycare full-time and working at the group.
Prejudices
It is mainly men who think something of Frank’s career switch. “Schoolyard behavior I think it is. They are rooster men. They see me either as a threat or as a ridiculous idiot. According to them, I don’t live up to the expectation of male behavior, what a man ‘should’ like.”
He continues: “A friend of mine saw me pass his house with a large wagon full of children. This moment came up on a birthday. Because he thought I was crazy, a shit comment. Fine, then you can sit in the office for five days. But I do this.”
Scandal
According to Frank, the fact that so few men work in childcare is mainly due to the organizations. “We have had some terrible scandals in childcare. It is right that measures should be taken against this. But it is true that this is an umbrella that hangs over everything.”
Maxime Meiland tells in Kek Mama 4 that she would never take her daughters to a shelter where a man works. “That may sound hysterical, but I really don’t dare to take that risk. Inside I know that not every man is wrong, but that fear is so deep in my system: I can’t manage to become more relaxed about it.
Read also: Maxime Meiland: “I would never take my children to a shelter where a man works”
Connection
According to Frank, working at childcare is a very nice job and he feels very connected to the children in his group. “We have just had a week’s holiday. As soon as the children see you again, they give you a hug. Which colleague does that?”
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Source: LINDA.
