Parenting: 14 percent of parents beat up their children - focus online

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Violence has not yet disappeared from Germany’s children’s rooms. Half of the parents admit to punishing the offspring with corporal punishment. Very few act out of conviction – rather out of overstrain.

A strong slap on the buttocks or a resounding slap in the face: According to a representative forsa survey published on Monday, around half of parents in Germany still slip their hands during their upbringing. The majority then grows guilty.

"Parents almost always beat out of stress and helplessness today, but hardly because they believe they are doing something good for their child," says violence researcher Kai Bussmann, professor of criminal law at the University of Halle. The German Civil Code has laid down clear rules for Germany since 2000: "Children have the right to a non-violent upbringing." According to the German Child Protection Association, over 90 percent of parents now agree.

Spanking takes place less often

But only a good third manage to stick to it consistently. The majority resort to light physical punishments, from noticeable pat to slap in the face. Only a minority of around 14 percent, according to an analysis of child protection, still trains with a painful beating – or even with stick blows.

In the new survey for the magazine "Eltern", four percent of mothers and fathers profess beatings like "spanking the butt". Five years ago it was six percent. Punishments like a slap on the bum went down by six percent, slaps by one percent. However, it also always plays a role whether the parents themselves have corporal punishments in their childhood Experienced to have. Those who were beaten earlier are more likely to strike.

Boys are affected more often

According to the latest study, boys are beaten more often than girls, which Forsa researchers consider to be an aftermath of traditional role ideas. In large families, parents distribute significantly more slaps in the face than single children – which could have to do with more stress in a large family.

In Western Europe, the Federal Republic is in the middle of the field with these rates: In Germany, parents strike less frequently than in France, where the law does not yet prohibit corporal punishment of children. However, children are more abused in this country than, for example, in Sweden, where the right to nonviolent education was enshrined in law in 1979. All over Scandinavia this led to a change in society. The German child protectionists also hope for this. The right to a non-violent education was enshrined in law in the Federal Republic in 2000.

Children want to grow up as quickly as possible

"Laws change awareness," says Oliver Steinbach, vice editor-in-chief of the magazine "Eltern". It is positive that parents are not better off when they hit their children, but rather worse. Many have now apologized to their children. In any case, more than half of the parents do not believe that beatings are effective. This is what psychologists also say: spanking spells arouse defiance and resistance. And children learn that violence is allowed as a means of conflict resolution. With this experience, they then went to the playground.

Interviewers also interviewed more than 700 children – but not about experiences of violence, but about their view of the world. That sees not only rosy, even if 91 percent mom and dad for the best Keep parents of the world. 70 percent of children believe that there are many adults who do not like children and feel disturbed by them. And 60 percent want to grow up as quickly as possible. In order to become a child-friendly country, Germany has a long way to go.