Children's report 2012

The Children's Report 2012 is a study by the German Children's Fund on the positive consequences of early participation and breaking the cycle of inheritance of poverty. It was published in mid-April 2012.

overview

The 2012 Children's Report from the German Children's Fund provides information on participation in day-care centers and the associated development of resilience . It also puts together considerations on the measures that contribute to more extensive opportunities for participation in the daycare center. The children's report concludes with the demands of the German Children's Fund. In 2010, 2007 ( Children's Report 2007 ), 2004 and 2002, children's reports were published, which were also published by the German Children's Fund.

Contents of the study

The report, which Professor Ronald Lutz prepared with the assistance of Corinna Frey, Claudia Nürnberg and Maria Schmidt, was presented on April 20, 2012 at the Berlin press conference.

The study takes a look at the consequences of early participation in preschool age . In particular, the influencing variables of early participation experiences for the development of resilience, i.e. mastering crises through recourse to one's own experience, and as a way out of the cycle of inheritance of poverty, are examined. Through early participation, children develop skills that make them strong. This enables the children to successfully deal with aversive stimuli, i.e. stimuli that had a bad influence on the child's development, such as poverty, violence or abuse. This is why it is “of particular importance” , according to the President of the German Children's Fund, Thomas Krüger , “to have relevant experiences in daycare at a young age, especially for children from disadvantaged social backgrounds . Through early participation, the children can compensate for the consequences of social disadvantage. "

Children become stronger and more resilient the more they are involved in decisions, planning and processes in daycare centers. "In numerous interviews, parents and educators repeatedly reported that good opportunities for co-determination have this beneficial effect," emphasizes Professor Lutz, who surveyed the day-care centers on behalf of the German Children's Fund. The resilience that arises from early participation experiences is shown as follows:

Children react more realistically in problematic situations
Children solve conflicts more independently and sustainably
You react more calmly to stressful situations
You can express your opinion more clearly and sustainably

Approaches to action in day-care centers

The Children's Report 2012 states that children's rights and primarily Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child , the right of co-determination, do not play a significant role in day-care centers. Children's rights are mostly seen as an educational issue. Less than an aspect of the actual workflow, however. There are many ways to structurally anchor children's rights in day-care centers. For example through:

Children's conferences
Children's councils
Children's parliaments
Most sustainable and most effective, however, is the joint drafting of a Kita constitution, in which children's rights, decision-making channels and decision-making bodies are bindingly laid down and implemented.

Demands of the German Children's Fund

The right of co-determination according to Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies without age restriction. Co-determination must therefore be a principle of pedagogy in day-care centers, since day-care centers have an educational mandate whose core must also be promoting democracy. As a result, the German Children's Fund demands:

A comprehensive discussion about the requirements of participation in day-care centers on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The evaluation of kindergartens with regard to the implementation of forms of participation to promote resilience
The tendering of projects that promote and at the same time implement these contexts

Co-determination serves to overcome child poverty . The potential of participation to increase self-esteem must be used. Because children, even the smallest ones, are experts in their own affairs. So far these skills of the children have not been used - the possibilities are wasted. Knowing this must:

The mandatory participation of children in day-care facilities will be stipulated across the board in the day-care center laws of the federal states.
The federal states are moving participation in daycare centers in the curriculum.
Measures to raise awareness and perception of poverty and to work on its consequences are developed

Skilled workers need qualification measures for the new tasks. Due to the new demands for co-determination, there is a great deal of uncertainty, especially for the specialist staff, as to how they can design the framework for co-determination in daycare centers. For the skilled workers in day-care centers, the German Children's Fund therefore demands:

Offer of appropriate qualification measures,
Inclusion of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular Article 12, in the training curricula of educators
Mandatory advanced training and qualification programs for educators

Structure of the study

In the “Children's Report 2012 - Co-determination in day-care facilities and resilience” by the German Children's Fund, the connection between co-determination and resilience was examined in a survey in Thuringian day-care centers that can be transferred to all of Germany. The selection of day-care facilities was based on the principle of the greatest possible breadth and the inclusion of diversity. The selection included day-care centers with a religious background, state institutions and other independent organizations. The daycare centers were in the greater Erfurt and Weimar areas , both in areas with a broad middle class and in socially disadvantaged areas. A total of twelve institutions took part in the survey. Methods of qualitative social research were used. Problem-centered interviews were carried out with leaders and educators, supplemented by discussions with parents. After evaluating the interviews, a workshop with 25 teachers took place as a supplement, in the course of which the central theses of the material were discussed and summarized again. In addition to the qualitative methods, the concepts of the interviewed institutions were analyzed.

Reactions to the study

The Greens parliamentary group in Bremen calls for the policy to be expanded with children instead of for children and for participation in day-care centers to be promoted, because a cornerstone for a lively democracy can already be laid for the very young.
Manuela Schwesig , SPD, Minister of Social Affairs Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, supported the demands of the German Children's Fund for more participation by children. Children who are involved in decisions from an early age grow into strong personalities, says Schwesig.
Diana Golze , the child and youth policy spokeswoman for the DIE LINKE parliamentary group, calls for children to be given more rights and to give them the opportunity to live these rights. The coalition must finally act for the benefit of the children.
According to Katja Dörner , spokesperson for child and family policy for the Green parliamentary group, the 2012 Children's Report clearly demonstrates the importance and effect of early participation opportunities for children and young people. The federal government should finally take this as an opportunity to translate its announcements in the coalition agreement into action. Anyone who wants to dare more democracy must involve children and young people better.
Caren Marks , family policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, explains that participation in day-care centers promotes self-confidence and social skills in children and, above all, strengthens children who are at risk of poverty. The more children are involved in the day-to-day life of the daycare center, the better the disadvantages are balanced out. The current children's report clearly shows that. The expansion of daycare centers must therefore urgently be promoted.

About the author

The 2012 Children's Report was prepared by Professor Dr. phil. Ronald Lutz (* 1951) prepared on behalf of the German Children's Fund. Since 1993 Lutz has been professor for the subject "People in Special Life Situations" in the social affairs department at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences; currently dean of the applied social sciences department at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences .

literature

Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk eV: Kinderreport Deutschland 2012 - Co-determination in day care centers and resilience, April 2012 family media Verlag, ISBN 978-3-86613-701-1

DKHW: Participation rights of children and young people