Teaching men and boys to care

Monday 4 April 2005

Society needs to teach boys and men that 'caring counts' says a speaker at the University of Newcastle's 4th Biennial Working with Boys Building Fine Men conference currently underway in Melbourne.

Professor Don Edgar will today argue that caring is not just a feminine, wimpish quality needed for rearing children and other family care; it is a crucial skill for survival in the modern workplace.

"Usually called 'emotional intelligence', the ability to care – about oneself, about others, and about the wider quality of social life – is not something to be left to women alone," says Professor Edgar.

"Boys must be given clear role models and learn that self-control, empathy, cooperation and communication skills are central to being a successful male."

Professor Edgar will outline the failure of schools, workplace managers and community services to create a notion of care that appeals to the active, competitive qualities of the male, and calls for a 'New Links Workplace’' in which caring is a core value, and for a new partnership model of family life in which the expectations of men and women to 'share the care' are the norm rather than the exception.

Over 850 people will meet today to hear the latest research on boys from educators and researchers from across Australia, New Zealand and from as far afield as The Netherlands. Other presenters today include Dr Ken Rowe, Chris Sarra, Freerk Ykema, Deborah Hartman and Lauk Woltring.

The University of Newcastle's 4th Biennial Working with Boys Building Fine Men conference runs until Tuesday 5 April 2005 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

A full program is available at http://www.pco.com.au/boys2005/

Speakers are available during the conference for media interviews.