For the boys without dads, lessons at school on how to be a man: Mentoring scheme will teach them how to shave, money management and asking a girl out



Teachers at Chase High School in Westcliff-on-Sea have agreed to help

Boys will learn about how to treat women and how to speak to them

'Young men have a skewed view of what a relationship is like because of the easy access to pornography', headteacher says

Students also taught how to be better with money and personal hygiene



Life Skills: Victoria Overy, headteacher at Chase High school says the mentoring scheme is aimed at pupils who may not have a male role model in their lives

Boys are being taught how to behave like men at school to make up for the lack of male role models at home.

The growth of single parent families – most often without a father – means children are growing up without the steadying influence of a strong and caring man.

Many end up with a skewed view of life from friends, television or even pornography.

Headteachers are bringing in male mentoring schemes which replace the father and son chats that were once a rite of passage.

Pupils are being guided through topics such as the right way to ask a girl out, how to treat women and what it means to be a good pupil and friend.

Other practical help includes shaving tips, how to be presentable and money management.

Chase High School in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, is introducing a scheme from next month.

Headteacher Victoria Overy said it was mainly aimed at pupils ‘on free school meals who may not have a male role model in their life’.

‘Young men have a skewed view of what a relationship is like because of the easy access to pornography,’ she added. ‘Sex education often only deals with how not to get pregnant and violent relationships. We want this scheme to teach pupils details on establishing relationships and how to end them without breaking hearts.

‘I have a school full of brilliant male role models and it would be a shame to waste that.’

Danny Chaplin, an art teacher taking part in the ‘man days’, said: ‘Youngsters these days are very desensitised to the world due to computer games, TV and pornography. We need to teach them that women are not sex objects and that it is not all right to pass around pictures of them on mobile phones.

Role model scheme: Teachers at Chase High School hope it will improve boys' learning and eventually their academic results

‘The lessons will teach boys how to approach women, how to take them out and treat them properly.’

Boys will also be offered golf lessons, football tournaments, camping and survival skills to encourage team-building.

Girls at the secondary school –which was recently graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors – will have lessons from female teachers covering money management and career aspirations.

Help: Pupils are being guided through topics such as the right way to ask a girl out, how to treat women and what it means to be a good pupil and friend

Similar schemes have been introduced at Cornelius Vermuyden School on Canvey Island, Essex, and the Lilian Baylis Technology School in Lambeth, South London.

Earlier this year a study of family breakdown warned a million children are growing up in ‘men deserts’ – living without a father and rarely meeting an adult male.

In some areas, three in every four families are headed by one parent, the Centre for Social Justice said, claiming it was causing a ‘tsunami of family breakdown’.

The effects of family breakups on children are known to include poor school performance, difficulty making friends, bad behaviour, anxiety, depression and a greater chance of drug-taking or crime.

A quarter of primary schools did not have a single male teacher in 2010. Two decades ago, men made up four in ten teachers.

The shift away from education was linked to the attraction of other graduate jobs and fears of allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

But figures last month showed the number of men training to be primary school teachers has surged by nearly a third in five years.