I didn't realize there was a mental health awareness week for men. As a teacher, I would also argue that mental health awareness doesn't really come up in teacher's college or staff meetings - there's just too much to do. So then as teachers are human, we teach what we know - and we're part of the system that perpetuates this idea about men being tough. The part about "suffering in silence" really speaks to me because in my school's play about bullying, the bullied kid came to school and shot everybody. There was a monologue from one of the male bullies that the bullied kid who shot everyone should have just "sucked it up" - either way, the narrative of men resorting to violence (or sucking it up) is tough to counter. Thanks for making this "gentle reminder". I appreciate it.
I didn't realize there was a mental health awareness week for men. As a teacher, I would also argue that mental health awareness doesn't really come up in teacher's college or staff meetings - there's just too much to do. So then as teachers are human, we teach what we know - and we're part of the system that perpetuates this idea about men being tough. The part about "suffering in silence" really speaks to me because in my school's play about bullying, the bullied kid came to school and shot everybody. There was a monologue from one of the male bullies that the bullied kid who shot everyone should have just "sucked it up" - either way, the narrative of men resorting to violence (or sucking it up) is tough to counter. Thanks for making this "gentle reminder". I appreciate it.