Humiliating, yelling at, forcing people to eat: Day care centers should actually be safe places. But they are not always. This emerges from a survey by the German Press Agency among supervisory authorities.
Accordingly, in 2022 there were more reports of educational misconduct in some federal states. However, experts complained about the incomplete recording of such cases. The child protection association called for more sensitivity to the topic.
The figures from the federal states show how widespread the problem is: in the previous year, 83 cases of border-violating behavior towards children were reported from Berlin day-care centers – the highest number in the past four years. This also included suspected cases, said the education administration. In Brandenburg, the Ministry of Education became aware of 82 suspected cases of abusive behavior by employees towards children. In 2021 there were still 56 cases.
Lower Saxony also recorded an increase. According to the Ministry of Education, 338 reports of suspected misconduct by employees were received in 2022, compared to 223 a year earlier. It was about hitting, pinching, tugging, sexual or verbal abuse and force-feeding.
In the Rhineland in North Rhine-Westphalia, the authorities listed a total of 271 cases of educational misconduct in 2022, 46 more than in the previous year. According to a survey by Bayerischer Rundfunk at the end of December, there was also an increase in Bavaria.
How it looks nationwide is not so easy to answer. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any figures because far too little research is being done,” said Martina Huxoll-von Ahn, Vice-Chairman of the Child Protection Association. The Saxon Ministry of Social Affairs, for example, informed dpa that there was no obligation for the state youth welfare office to collect statistical reports about how often the child’s well-being in Saxony’s daycare centers was endangered.
Violence protection concepts as a solution
This makes it difficult for experts to assess the extent of violence. “It can be assumed that instead of being beaten or slapped, psychological violence is being used – i.e. shouting down children, humiliating them, isolating them socially,” says Huxoll-von Ahn. Since the year 2000, the German Civil Code (BGB) has stated that children have the right to a non-violent upbringing. Since then, the acceptance of corporal punishment has decreased significantly, but not completely disappeared, said the specialist.
In order to prevent attacks, kindergartens nationwide are legally obliged to have concepts for protection against violence. It says, for example, how violence can be prevented or how cases can be processed. These concepts have not yet been implemented across the board, said child protection expert Jörg Maywald. “We are in the middle of the process. It varies from state to state and from carrier to carrier.” There is a colorful patchwork quilt here.
Steffi Arnold considers such concepts to be useful. The managing director of three kindergartens in the Berlin district of Pankow deals with the issue of violence and is involved in the “Outbreak of Courage” project of the Federal Working Group on More Safety for Children. “For ten years in the team we have asked ourselves: Are we really doing everything right and enabling everyone to participate?” Arnold is also interested in looking at the work in their “children’s shops” from the outside. There was already an internship in the daycare center.
Clear demand from the child protection association
Cases of misconduct often end up in court. In Gelsenkirchen, two childminders are currently responsible because a boy suffocated in the mini-daycare center. According to the indictment, they are said to have violated their duty of care. In Cologne, a former babysitter and daycare worker is on trial for serious child sexual abuse. What are the causes of such cases?
The Berlin education administration said: “We do not know in detail the reasons for encroaching behavior.” The Child Protection Association sees a reason in the excessive demands on the staff. “In day-care centers we have the problem of a blatant shortage of skilled workers. Such stressful situations can exacerbate forms of violence,” says Huxoll-von Ahn. A Bertelsmann study from autumn 2022 described the staff shortage as alarming.
The child protection expert Maywald does not see the personnel problem as the sole reason: “We have poorly equipped daycare centers that do an excellent job, on the other hand relatively well equipped ones that do a less good job.” The Ministry of Culture in Hanover referred to a reform from June 2021 as a further reason, which provides for new reporting obligations for daycare centers. Last spring there were more than 59,000 kindergartens across Germany.
But what can be done to ensure that there are fewer cases of violence in the future? The child protection association called for specialists and parents to be made more aware. Maywald said: “If we assume that misconduct occurs in every day care center, every day, then it must not be taboo, swept under the carpet, but must be addressed offensively and at an early stage.”
