Gap children
Lückekinder is a term used in child and youth work . It describes an age group of around 9 to 13 year old children that cannot be clearly defined . The term Lückekinder arose from the fact that, depending on the federal state, children in this age group are too old for the after- school care center and are still too young for classic youth clubs and their opening times. In the course of the changed orientation of many children's and youth recreational facilities in the 1990s, many of these “gaps” have been closed. The beginning expansion of after -school care and all-day school offers from the 2000s onwards has contributed to the fact that this term is rarely used today.
History and basics
Older children under 14 are socio-politically problematic than pubescent teenagers and require less supervision and care than younger children. That is why there was (and still is) a gap in educational recreational support in many places in Germany .
The term itself is ascribed to the Berlin educator Peter Friedrich, who described the phenomenon as early as 1980. In most federal states, the right to a day care center only exists for four years of primary school. There is therefore a need for offers with a day-care center with care and care for older children. As a result, some children's and youth recreational facilities have now set up to cater to this target group and their needs in order to prevent gap children, as “ key children ”, from being exposed to uncertain influences in the afternoons. In many areas of child and youth work (e.g. vacation trips, sports clubs, etc.), work is often age-specific, with “gap children” being looked after separately from younger children and adolescents.
Web links
- http://www.tagblatt.de/Home/nachrichten/kreis_artikel,-Treffs-fuer-Luecke-Kinder-_arid,80420.html
- http://www.linz.at/presse/archiv/2002/020313.htm