Yeah - it's what kept me out of direct helping professions with
kids; I knew the structure would drive me nuts and at the time I
was going to go into it full time (mid-1990s) was the pedo
paranoia time so... single white male working with boys?
Yeah. I'd be watched like a hawk all around. Not that it would
matter to me, but I was talked out of it. "You wouldn't want the
stress" "bad environment for men to go into right now".
They were probably right and no regrets here. But still there's
always the 'what if" factor. Well, I help outside of the system.
I entertain/educate on Vine [1]
http://vine.co/kenneth.udut -
just being myself, randomly weird, and no structure. Just
crossed 10,000 followers and almost 1/2 are under 18. Mind you,
they're not SUPPOSED to be on the service, but they are. They
find me entertaining and so I use it as an excuse to
occasionally do "ManRules" / "LifeTips" - stuff like that.
I focus a lot on cyberbullying, how to be yourself in the face
of conformity; and when conformity isn't necessarily a bad
thing... stuff like that. I'm like a "Face from far away" and I
take the role I found myself in seriously, while appearing
ridiculous.
Since I'm 'outside the system" I keep my nose clean too. I stay
public, don't respond to private, I don't get involved with
their problems - I stay on this side of the glass. But I'm quick
with like emoticon "great job", "keep up the creativity" and
stuff like that.
So in the end, I found a way to help. Wish it paid money but eh,
at least I'm making a difference. Thanks I'm considering
finishing up school one day and perhaps going into behavior
therapy/cogsci/psychology or something like that. or something
like that. Who know. I just take life day by day and help
whenever I find myself. I tell people (of any age) I'M NOT A
ROLE MODEL, because I'm not a role model.
But I'm a case study. I'm being myself, encouraging others to do
the same, be confident, learn to "spot the bullshit", don't be
mean, you CAN get through this. [school, work, divorce, whatever
might trouble someone] - stuff like that.
Thanks for the encouragement; I might have gotten talked out of
doing the work earlier but then I wouldn't have had amazing
opportunities later. I like where I am now and what I do, so I
have no regrets. And if I decide to pursue that old career
again, I won't hesitate smile emoticon
References
Visible links
1.
http://vine.co/kenneth.udut
