2023-09-02 10:02:36
The news spread like wildfire on social media. In Germany, day care centers “have already set up sexual exploration rooms where children can participate in sexual games and discover what they like and explore masturbation”, indignantly post. If some are more cautious about the existence of these rooms, others do not bother: “Daycare centers and crèches have rooms dedicated to the sexual manipulation of children! But where are we going in this decadent EU? “, apostrophe a post shared more than 2,400 times on X (ex-Twitter).
Screenshot of a viral post relaying the Fox News article. – Screenshot/X
Often associated is a screenshot of an article from the American channel Fox News which indicates that “German daycare centers are promoting sexual exploration rooms where children could participate in sex games”, a version a tad more nuanced, but which deserves to be supplemented. This article discusses three cases of nurseries (“kita”, in German, a generic term that designates different forms of childcare for children up to 6-7 years old), including two in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to Fox News, which is based on a paper by the German conservative daily The worldthe Ministry of Youth and Family of this Länd would have explained that the sexual behavior of the children “could not be prevented” and that it had no intention of contacting these child care centres.
Maix Fox News truncated another portion of the ministry’s remarks. Contacted, he explained to us that he was opposed to this concept of room. After reading the article by The world, it appears that such rooms do not exist in Germany, but that controversial debates on “concepts” of sex education have taken place. We take stock.
FAKE OFF
It all started at the end of June 2023 when a crèche of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO) association in Hanover in the Länd of Lower Saxony sent a letter to parents, which caused a scandal. Revealed by the tabloid Bild, this one evoked the project of a “body exploration room”. Ten rules were specified for its use as “each child decides for himself if and with whom he wants to play physical and sexual games”. But the Länd government, led by an SPD-Green coalition, stopped this project, we learn from the Spiegel 2nd of July.
To fully understand the subject, we must first come back to the definition of the “concept” of sex education. In Germany, the federal states (Länds) develop educational concepts for the elementary sector and it is also recommended that child care centers develop concepts for sex education, explains to 20 Minutes the ProFamilia association, which can support them in this work.
“A danger” for the well-being of children
These concepts are a term that encompasses training, discussions, educational materials on a theme intended for professionals. The concepts of sexuality education can take the form of a guide and can contain elements on the professional aspects related to the sexuality of children, educational topics on sexuality, the management of children who violate the limits of sexuality , the work of parents, the formulation of rules, etc.
The Youth Ministry of the Länd of Lower Saxony considered that the educational concept of the body exploration room in Hannover put the well-being of children at risk. And that he had no reason to be, said a spokeswoman for the ministry, quoted in the Spiegel.
‘There are no coins’ exploration in AWO nurseries
Moreover, this letter had not been approved by the AWO, also specified the board of directors of the association. “In AWO nurseries, there are no rooms in which children are invited or encouraged to be naked or to engage in body exploration games”, pointed out in the Spiegel the chairman of the board of directors. To be able to continue their activity, the association’s childcare centers in Hanover will have to revise their educational concepts, which will then be validated by the regional youth office.
A month and a half later, it is in North Rhine-Westphalia, led by a CDU-Green coalition, that similar educational concepts are highlighted by a deputy from the AfD, the far-right party. RIGHT. The daily article The worldpublished on August 21 and partly taken up by Fox News on August 24, evokes the rules fixed in the educational concepts of two nurseries, one in Kerpen and one in Rheinberg.
Rules that shocked
In Kerpen, these indicate that children must be able to “retreat to a protected space” to “discover themselves and physically satisfy themselves”, the crèche “offers children spaces of freedom to experience child sexuality”. “Masturbation is something normal” and its authorization in daycare centers is “of great importance”.
In Rheinberg, it is written in the daily newspaper that the doctor’s games “are prepared in adjoining rooms – but with rules for the little ones: ‘They carefully choose the child who plays with them’. And beforehand, “we explain to the children that no object should be introduced into the openings of the body (eg the genitals)”. We have contacted the child care centers in question, but they have not responded yet.
“Rooms for exploration are not part of the practice”
Have these separate rooms been set up? No. When contacted, the Ministry for Youth and Family of North Rhine-Westphalia showed firm opposition. It does not consider “separate rooms for sexual self-exploration in child day care facilities as part of teaching practice”, says a spokesperson for 20 Minutes, and these “are not planned”. “Such a project would also be prevented by the services issuing operating permits to the youth offices of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia”, he adds.
The concepts promoted by ProFamilia were mentioned in the case of the Hannover day care centre. But, underlines the association, “we do not create separate rooms”. The spokesperson wishes to recall that the association “works with generally accepted concepts of sex education”, according to WHO standards. Children confront parents, but also professionals with their curiosity and their desire to explore, she points out, adding that the exploration of the body “has nothing to do with the sexual acts of adults”. The association sees in this controversy an attempt to “discredit sex education by distorting or misrepresenting the facts”.
A concept “likely to cross the limit of sexualization”
The children “discover their bodies, play ‘doctor games’, kiss and cuddle, ask questions on all subjects related to sexuality and sometimes go beyond the limits, she explains. It is therefore necessary to adopt a professional approach, developed in collaboration with the daycare team”. For these rules to be well understood by children, they must be very specific (such as not putting such an object in the mouth or genitals). For example, continues Pro Familia, “it is not forbidden for children to explore their bodies and play doctor, but it is necessary to ensure that certain rules are respected in a protected environment”, but this “should not necessarily be a separate room”.
The youth ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia, meanwhile, is distancing itself from the concept of sex education at the Kerpen daycare centre, because “it is likely to cross the border of sexualisation”, indicates- he. Formulations such as a “protected space where children can ‘retreat’ to ‘discover themselves and physically satisfy themselves’ are totally inappropriate and unacceptable”, specifies the ministry, stressing that “such a formulation, and a fortiori such a development, are unacceptable”. “We must resolutely oppose any form of sexualization of children or day-to-day daycare,” the ministry stresses.
Sex education “appropriate to the age of the child” must first of all protect him from abuse: “Children who know what sexuality is and where it is located can more easily recognize a sexual assault and obtain help”, defends ProFamilia, when the Ministry of Youth and Family stresses that it is very important to allow children “to be able to recognize and talk about abusive behavior”.
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