Parenting in Germany vs the United States 👨👩👧👦
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- How is Parenting different in Germany versus in the US? I think parents in the United States differ a lot from German parents, and today I’ll give you a few reasons as to why I think that! It seems as though children are given much more freedom in Germany than in the US, and even our playgrounds are designed differently due to parent concerns!
Playground Video: www.vox.com/videos/2019/2/21/...
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My first experience of parenting in Germany was 2 days after moving to Berlin my wife, 7-year-old daughter and I were having dinner at a restaurant. At the table next to ours was another family with a 7-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. After our daughter started playing at the restaurant with the other kids, and as my wife and I started talking to the other parents, they asked if the kids could all go to the playground across the street. I volunteered to go with the kids to keep an eye on them, to which the parents responded, “Why? They can look after themselves.” Letting go that evening was tough. As my daughter is in high school now, it gets even tougher. But I also know that my daughter and her friends were raised learning self-reliance and responsibility. I let my daughter do things with her German friends that I would never allow her to do with American friends the same age.
Bei uns gabs ab 15 nur eine Regel: Wenn du zu viel getrunken hast, ruf mich oder ein Taxi an. Fahr aber nicht besoffen Rad!
Rad?? Motorrad wohl gemeint ??
@@cartesianer1290 Wieso Motorrad ? Betrunken Fahrrad fahren ist auch super gefährlich. Mit 15 kann man noch nicht mal Führerschein für Motorrad machen. Mofa geht mit 15
Ich mit 15 noch nicht an Alkohol gedacht und auch viel vor Eltern heute Angst haben war noch ein Fremdwort weil, dass in meine Umgebung nicht gab und die Berichte darüber habe nicht mitbekommen. Wobei aber sagen muss das es 30 Jahre her ist.
Bei uns kann man den Moped-Führerschein mit 15 machen. Und Alkohol gab es auch mit 12 Jahren schon, zumindest hinter der Grenze.
dass alkohol legal ist, aber man für Gras 2020 noch immer in den Knast gehen kann, is echt unfassbar.
Your parents did a great job, because in all the videos that i see i get the image of a smart, educated and curious young woman.
I agree.
I also agree. A huge complment to your parents.
Ja auf jeden Fall wenn ich älter bin will ich unbedingt nach Amerika ziehen 🙈❤️🙃🙂
@@outtex warum? gibt doch viele andere tolle Länder. Sie haben eine riesige Waffenkobby, Trump, kaum Sozialstaat usw.
Tabea Dietz ich liebe die Waffenlobby das ist das Ding man müsste eigentlich nur gucken das keine psyschos und so Waffen bekommen aber ansonsten finde ich es gut und Trump ist ja auch nicht für immer da
Even though german parenting seems to be quite liberal, but it used to be even more so in the past. I feel like little children nowadays are wayy to overprotected.
*too
So true
I grew up in the 70s in a small village in Germany. We only had one rule "Be home for dinner!" That was all. We spent hours outside on the riverbanks, built dams, played hide and seek in the forests surrounding our village etc. During the summer we would go back outside after dinner but had to be back home before it was dark. We did not have much but we were free to do what we wanted as long as we obeyed the rules. I wish children today could grow up like we did.
althelas grew up in the 2000s. Basically same rules. Always had to go home when the streetlights turned on (or at a friends house and then give a quick call home, to let my parents know where I was at)
We have "Helicoptereltern" too
When I was living in the states I thought it was so crazy that some parents drug test their kids on a regular basis 😂 I’ve never heard of anything like that in Germany lol
don´t knwo if it is an urban myth but I heard aabout a guy in the USA whose parents even set up a video surveillance system in his room! so he masturbated right in front of the camera and then turned his parents in to the police for possession of child pornography! (serves them damn right!)
@@peterkoller3761 wow crazy
What? How about trust? ... 🙈
smoke weed with your kids, so they dont think, its cool ..,-)
@@jornschneider2723 my dad did that haha he took us boys and said since we are at that age where we going to do stuff like that anyway so it would better and safer with him around, all of us never cared much for drugs when we were older so i guess it worked ;)
My mother was like "but don't drink to much" when I was around 16/17 and I went to the club with the boys. At the age of 18 she just gave up and said just don't die 👀😂
*too
@@tompeled6193 no that's wrong 😂😂 if I said "I went to the club too" then it would be right. But hence I said I went "to" the club it's for a direction so it's correct
@@tompeled6193 oh wait hold on this is the internet I am not supposed to be polite:
What of a dumb fuck are you to correct me even tho you were wrong. Be sure to check your grammar first before trying to be a smart-ass
@@fredior9714i've missed the deleted part of the conversation "but don't drink to much" is wrong, it should be "but don't drink too much" ... but everyone makes mistakes! :))
Uff, da wurde mal schnell die Ehre entwendet.
Trusting each other is a basic element in a family/society. Lacking trust is a general problem in the USA, I think.
You'd be scared too if you were surrounded by Americans.
@@gnash.s probably but its also a self reinforcing cycle.
And if you put things together, it makes perfect sense that people in Germany get quite upset when you jaywalk, in particular before the childrens' eyes. We allow the kids to walk alone to school, to the playgrounds, to friends, so there is an understandable concern that they may pick up bad habits on their way.
also bad example, i told off a couple the other day they said "but its late already there are no kids around.." i just said ... "ever heard of Windows ?" ... so much for the no one is around anyway excuse :P
You're right. I didn't know about these different backgrounds. Makes perfect sense.
The best way to keep your children safe, sane, healthy and independant is to keep them lightyears away from the US
There is a Simpsons Episode where Lisa takes the Bus alone and the show makes it look like a huge mistake and it‘s supposed to show off how neglectful her dad is
I (german) never understood this growing up as I was already taking the tram everywhere at the same age
Eine Freundin von mir ist schon im Kindergartenalter alleine Tram gefahren 😂 schwarz wohlgemerkt
Unter 7 ist eh kostenlos ;)
Just to confirm that. My little girl (2 years old) was yesterday for the first time on a rope climbing pyramid. I was kind of having my hands just an inch away from her and she slipped slightly and laughed out of joy - 24 hours later today she was basically climbing around herself, only slipped twice and could both times hold on so I could get her - I was absolutely amazed. Children are amazing you just have to give them a chance.
So I can just say many parents here give their children more freedoms, but we also have in mind that there is no real risk. E.g. if she had fallen nothing would have happened it was sand underneath and she was 1m high - so it would have been more frustration than injury.
Hello Montana,
I think if a child is supervised or controlled by their parents 24/7 they cannot become independent. Of course, this also includes trust that a child does not do stupid things. Trust is important so that a child can develop. There should be a middle ground, not just total freedom, not just total control. As the father of a daughter, that was always very important to me. ( Entschuldige mein Englisch ich habe es mit Hilfe von Google getan ;-)
Das is voll gut geworden😂
Ich würd deinem Aufsatz eine 1+ geben👌🏾
This..is awfully good for google translate. But if you ever need something more reliable check out deepl.
Das ist echt gut für Google Translate. Die Qualität erwartet man eher von Übersetzern wie Deepl.
Well said
Ich bin früher in die Schule gelaufen. Manche sind auch mit dem Fahrrad gefahren. Nix Bus und erst recht nix Auto und ohne Eltern (auch zu Fuß), alleine, von der 1. Klasse an.
also ich fahre seit der zweiten klasse alleine mit dem bus in einer großstadt .-.
An unserer Grundschule durften Kinder erst ab der 3. Klasse Fahrrad fahren, aber begleitet wurden nur die Erstklässler in den ersten Wochen
(german here). I went alone to the kindergarden with the bicicle (with those extra weels for beginners). In the 1.-2. class they forbit it to me because i could endanger the nearby kindergarden kits (where i was driving to since 3 years). First time i took the bus alone was with 5, it was cool because until 6 driving bus was free!
Wir haben immer so gewohnt das die Grundschule immer zu Fuß erreichbar war, darauf wohl meine Eltern immer geachtet. Selber die Freunde meine Bruder habe immer in Umkreis von 15 Minuten mit Fahrrad auch gewohnt, selber Gymnasium war nur 15 Minuten von uns entfern.
Ich bin damals sogar noch zum Kindergarten gelaufen 🤷♀️
Aber sowas muss auch vom Kind ausmachen. Meine Schwester musste ich bis zur zweiten Klasse zur Schule begleiten, weil sie einfach noch nicht so weit war
In German universities, you are not made to participate. You can go the whole semester without going to lectures or practical courses or seminars. Nobody cares. But when it comes to taking exams, you have to know what happend in those events. College it more like school, while universities do not care about the single student. The lecturers do not know your name, will not comment on how your grades are or how often you missed a lecture. Not because they are bad people, but because they assume you are old enough to decide to participate on your own. If you do not, that's your decision and they accept it. You have to be responsible for your action or inaction yourself. You do not show up, you have to deal with the consequences. Nobody will pamper you. You haven't signed in for a practical course or an exam, you will not take that course or exam this time. You messed up, you have to deal with it. This makes you learn things fast or you drop out. But it's also like this at your job. There is an emphasis on being responsible for your actions and self-regulate your behavior according to what is needed to succeed.
Parents can plant those ideas within their children really early. My kids walked to school alone starting first grade, later they used scooters, skateboards, bikes. We just "kick" them out the door and until now they came back in one piece^^ It's not far, just about 1km to elementary school and about 3km starting 5th grade. When they want to go to friends or sports, they do so by themselves. With smaller kids (
When I was a child I lived in a small german village surrounded by woods. If the weather was good enough my friends and I were in the woods all the time. We had no phones and our parents never knew where we were. And as long as we were at home for dinner it was completely fine. When I see videos like this I always think that all parents in the US are completely paranoid. Plus: During my childhood there were almost no parents who drove their children to school. In fact everyone was making fun of the very few children who were brought to school by their parents, this has been extremely embarassing back then. Today there are so many "Elterntaxis".... makes me sick.
same here. and the most amazing thing is: we all survived!
Same for me!
Same here
True, but you should also mention that at that time: There were no mobile phones, so having a phone was no option. There were much less cars, children in the woods were mostly in big groups, where the older somehow supervised the younger, which is difficult today with much less children around. Finally crime rate has been rather low in Germany. Finally, this kind of parenting is not as irresponsible as it sounds as children are in most cases trained first before they climb up dangerous playgrounds, take the bus, walk to school etc.. It is not just: "try it - good luck".
@@florianmeier3186 yes, the older supervized the younger, like poking a yellowjacket-nest with a stick and tell the younger to go look if they are coming out...
I am a German father of 4 children. My oldest daughter is 28 and studying at a university. My son is 18 and my twin daughters are 5 years old.
Most German parents enjoy seeing their children dare to do something on their own, seeing how they manage to climb a climbing frame and then seeing the sparkle in their eyes when they make it to the top. And if they didn't make it, we parents are there to comfort them, but also to help them not to give up and try again and again.
But there is also a wide spectrum of parents in Germany. From helicopter parents to parents who hardly care about their children. Also the environment (e.g. city or village) makes a big difference. In the villages with a few hundred inhabitants you can see how children at the age of 6 or 7 years buy bread rolls from the small baker next door (even if this is not allowed by law). Or at the age of 8 or 9 they are allowed to go alone to the playground around the corner. In a city this is usually unthinkable. Too much traffic and too many people you do not know.
There are school buses in Germany, too. They are usually normal public buses, but especially used as school buses. But there are also children who have to go to school with the regular buses. In the beginning parents are required to accompany their children on their way to school. And every day the children should become a little more independent and the parents in the end just follow them. In my childhood it was about 3km (about 1.86 miles) to school. Most of the time I went by bus, sometimes even on foot. Mostly from the fifth grade on, the children are allowed to ride their bikes to school.
Also the playgrounds within Germany are very different. There are playgrounds that offer everything from toddlers' slides, rope slides, water games to pirate castles or ships with large climbing nets. But unfortunately also tiny playgrounds with very little choice. Especially in new development areas more and more importance is attached to large playgrounds. And there are very strict legal requirements for playgrounds. The playgrounds also have to be technically checked regularly.
If you have children one day, trust them to do something on their own, let them try it out, let them climb. They will certainly fall once, but they will get up and learn from it and try again. Maybe it takes a band-aid, a hug and of course love, but it also takes their parents' trust in their child.
At least in Hamburg, you usually have students in third grade who go to school by themselves.
The “rule” I mostly hear is that they need to be able to cross all streets on their way, read and in case know their address and phone number. Children who go to school by bus are usually on it on their own from the moment they can read. At least, that's what I often see.
Botengänge, die jüngere Kinder erledigen, sind aber legal. Dazu gehört auch, dass Kinder zum Bäcker gehen, wenn ihre Eltern ihnen diese Aufgabe übertragen haben ("Kauf bitte ein Schwarzbrot und 5 Brötchen. Hier hast du dafür 4 Euro.") Und in Berlin gehen Kinder auch in der 1. Klasse mal allein nach Hause, aber der 3. Klasse eigentlich fast alle. Ich arbeite in einer Schule in Berlin. Auch auf Spiel- oder Sportplätze gehen Kinder allein. Sicherlich sind in der Stadt mehr Menschen unterwegs, aber es ist dann Aufgabe der Eltern, ihre Kinder entsprechend vorzubereiten. Also so wie auch auf dem Land.
@@melanieberlin5684 Danke für die Infos... Sicherlich, es ist unsere Aufgabe die Kinder vorzubereiten. Und worauf wir sie vorbereiten ist natürlich auch ganz stark davon abhängig in welchem Umfeld die Kinder aufwachsen. Meinen Beobachtungen nach dürfen Stadtkinder aber meist nicht ganz so früh selbstständig kleine Wege gehen wie es bei uns auf dem Dorf üblich ist. Aber das ist sicherlich von Stadt zu Stadt und von Dorf zu Dorf unterschiedlich.
Was das Einkaufen betrifft, sind Kinder erst mit 7 Jahren beschränkt geschäftsfähig und dürfen streng genommen nur mit Einwilligung der Eltern kleinere Einkäufe erledigen. Wobei es hier die Ausnahme durch den "Taschengeldparagraphen" noch gibt. Sie dürfen sich auch Kleinigkeiten was im Rahmen ihres Taschengeldes fällt durchaus selbstständig was kaufen (außer die Eltern haben dies verboten). Kinder unter 7 dürfen dies tatsächlich noch gar nicht.
@@andreasnadobnik8207 Wie gesagt, Botengänge sind auch unter 7 Jahren möglich, da die Kinder nur den Willen der Eltern ausführen. Kaufen sie sich vom Restgeld ein Lolli und die Eltern haben das vorher nicht ausdrücklich mit "in Auftrag" gegeben, dann kann das Geld für den Lolli wieder zurückverlangt werden, weil die Kinder wie du schon sagtest, nicht geschäftsfähig sind. Kaufen sie genau das, was die Eltern "in Auftrag" gegeben haben, darf auch ein 5jähriger schon Brötchen holen.
well i live in berlin and don't think it makes that big of a difference. obviously kids don't go to the other end of the city on their own but since school and friends are often nearby it's the sams
I am so glad, that i grow up independent. My parents were working the wohle day, so after school I cooked food for me an my sister, we did little grocery shopping and homework alone. After my 13 birthday i also have to wash my clothes alone. Now I am 25 and can take care of myselfe, since i left home.
As a child in Holland I had to walk to school alone when I was 6. It was a 15 minute walk and I had to cross 2 busy roads. I was allowed to ride my bike alone also from 6 years old. I had to be at home for eating and before the street lights went on. That was it. When I was 12 I could stay away all night, as long as my parents knew where I was. I never got into any trouble. The only thing I was not allowed ever, was smoking and guess what I started to do?? Haha. I did not have any pressure on doing well at school. I had my ups and downs, but ended up doing university. Did you know that according to UNICEF Dutch children are the happiest on earth and have been for several years.
They deserve it
When I was a teenager my parents had a simple rule for me. I had a fixed time when I should be home but if I wanted to stay longer I had to call them and say where I am and when I will be back home. Sometimes this was quite complicated because at this time mobile phones where not invented yet but it worked and this is what I did with my kid as well as long as I knew where he was and when he will come home I was fine and picking the kids from the club or a party is a very normal parent service.
What I don’t get in this helicopter parents is how do they want their kids to take over responsibility for their life if they don’t teach it. I still remember when my son was 6 years old he was climbing on such a rope thing which looked like a tent with a middle stem and instead of walls there was this net for climbing. It is about 5 to 6 meters high and I was scared like hell when I saw him almost at the top it cost me a lot to remain silent and just watch him going to the top and later let him find the way down but he was so proud when he came down and he had done this all by himself without help he was talking day about it. I believe this things give children strength and self confidence for their whole life.
Ich nehme mir mal raus, auf Deutsch zu antworten. Wie ist es "very normal parent service", seine Kinder die sich in Clubs oder Parties volllaufen lassen noch als "Belohnung" abzuholen. Ich bin nicht dafür, seine Kinder streng zu erziehen aber etwas Respekt sollte doch vor den Eltern sein oder nicht? Einfach mal das Eltern Taxi mitten in der Nacht bzw. früh am Morgen aus dem Schlaf zu klingeln, damit man seinen besoffenen Hintern ins Bett kriegt, finde ich nicht cool.
Will gar nicht wissen, für wie selbstverständlich solche Kinder so etwas erachten nach einer Zeit.
@@scure8931 wer hat etwas von besoffen gesagt? Wenn ich meinen Sohn einmal besoffen oder gekifft angetroffen hätte dann wäre aber was los gewesen. Auch war nicht die Rede davon aus dem Schlaf geklingelt zu werden es gab vorher klare Abmachungen wann er abgeholt wird und das hat gut geklappt. Mir war es allemal lieber als ihn nachts irgendwo einstehen zu lassen. Mach dir Mal keine Sorgen mein Junior ist ganz gut geraten.
@@habi0187 warum fühlst du dich denn so angegriffen? Ich rede in einem völligen allgemeinen Sinne ohne dabei mich auf eine bestimmte Person zu beziehen. Ich kenne dein(e) Kind(er) nicht einmal weshalb sollte ich mich auf diese beziehen? Dein(e) Kind(er) sind mir egal!
Ich habe auch nicht vom Kiffen oder anderen Drogen gesprochen.
Vielleicht solltest du mal nen Gang zurückschalten, mit dir kann man sich ja nichteinmal unterhalten....
scure sorry ich habe es als Angriff aufgefasst. Es war halt so geschrieben dass ich es auf mich bezogen habe. Das haben Antworten im allgemeinen so ansich dass sie sich auf den vorherigen Post beziehen wenn man nichts dazu schreibt.
Ich denke schon das man sich mit mir normal unterhalten kann.
@@habi0187 deswegen schrieb ich auch wie gesagt in einem allgemeinen Wortlaut, da dies sicherlich nicht nur eine Person betrifft.
Wieso ich auf deinen Kommentar geantwortet habe? Du hattest das Thema in den Kommentaren mit deiner Sichtweise angesprochen und ich wollte meine kundtun. Das ist doch völlig ok oder nicht?
Ich werde mich nie wieder darüber beschweren das ich nicht raus darf😳
About the kids going by bus alone: could that be because in Europe the public transport is common where in the us there is no not that many buslines?
My image of transport in the us is that only big cities have public transport, and therefore schoolbusses are the alternative.
That's definitely a big part of it; even in most of our big cities you can't get around without a car!
@@connorgioiafigliu Yeah it
is so easy to get EVERYWHERE with public transport.
Yeah that is for sure a big reason. I only took public transportation everywhere my whole life starting when I was like 9. I mean no one learned to drive at 15-16 there we dont have any other choice except for bikes. But a big part of us being able to do that is because it is in my opinion a way safer bus and train system then the one I have experienced in the US because so many kids take it and the people are just less likely to be dangerous.
And from movies i got the impression that public transport is only used by "poor people" in the us; so maybe us-parents think its not a good environment. I think german parents wouldn't let their kids take the bus if they thought its just drunks and criminals in there.
@@NeurosenkavalierEmilSinclair Yeah, that stereotype of public transport being for poor people does exist, because it usually means you cannot afford to drive a car. But in most places there aren't really problems with drunks and criminals when kids are going to school, since it is during the day.
An important difference both legally and socially between the US and Germany is, that German people don't consider teenagers to be CHILDREN, even if they're still minors. Teenagers aren't legally considered to be "Kinder" ("chrildren") but "Jugendliche" ("adolescents") and therefor there are different laws for let's say 5 year old children and 16 year old teenagers.
As you have already said, there are anxious parents often called "helicopter parents" in Germany too.
My office is next to a park with trees. Around ten neighboring children between the ages of four and thirteen play regularly there. A newly drawn child with a scared mother also wanted to climb trees but has not been allowed to do so before.
Children always want to be like other children. Parents can forbid their children to play with other children. But if their children play in a group, they cannot forbid to play what all other children play. - No way.
Because the new girl grew up very sheltered up to the current age of seven, she had never learned how to climb trees. That's why she now kept hurting herself. She came to my office up to three times a day and asked for a plaster, bandage or an ice pack to cool her wounds.
But the girl did not give up. She wanted to do what the other children did. Play tag, run through bushes and nettles, climb trees and let off steam. After about a year, the girl stopped coming to my office with bleeding wounds, bruises and bumps. She had learned to climb trees with the other children and run around without hurting herself.
That is how i felt growing up in germany. can't imaging growing up by total control.
by freedom i learnd wo much more of life, dangers and what i want to become.
When I turned 11 I "commuted" by train to my Gymnasium for 1h 15 mins everday, there and back, so 2.5 hours in total, Changing trains once in a big central station. Some days I had my sister with me , one year my senior, but some days I was completely on my own. Set me up for life. I could handle unforseen complications, quick orientation in unfamiliar surroundings, long distance travel.etc without breaking a sweat because it was normal to me in the everday commuting craze from a very young age. There's no "shit happens" like in train commuting^^
Yeah. For me it was like that too. To get to my Gymnasium I had to use the public bus (Postbus) to get there. Took around an hour including changing the bus in the city.
When I turned 13 school ended at around 14:30h one day in the week - so I had to wait until 16:30h for the next bus to get home. I went into the city alone. Sometimes I went to visit my grandma who lived there other days I went to the public library to stock up on books.
Im German and I think you observed erverything very well. My parents gave me a lot of freedom and just trusted in me that I’m a good person and that I’ll do the right things and not behave stupid. I knew that I can do the things I want and have unconditional support if I need it or ask for it. I can’t speak for everyone, but at least for me that strategy worked very well. It made me wanting to show that I’m worth that trust by being diligent about school and acting responsible when it came to going out/partying.
And yes, I got picked up at 3am 😆
I saw a small documentation on CZcams about strict and overprotecting parents and culture in the US.
Neighbours called the police because a family let the children play in their own yard on their own. (seems to be a save suburb)
Or another family get a visit from the youth welfare office because they let the children walk alone to the school.
It is really that strict in the US or was the film very one-sided?
I saw the same thing years ago on german TV I think.
This is it (30 minutes) www.ardmediathek.de/daserste/video/weltspiegel/weltspiegel-reportage-amerikas-eltern-im-kontrollwahn/das-erste/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlL1dlbHRzcGllZ2VsLzA1MDI2MDA3NTY/ or on youtube czcams.com/video/vi6hDzyxdU0/video.html
Yeah. Much of the behavior by US parents isn't necessarily because they themselves want to be super protective. But there is a huge amount of fear that someone will call the police if they let their children do certain things or let them out of sight. And that fear is entirely justified.
And stuff like that isn't universal, but it wasn't a rare occurrence either. There is a whole website documenting such incidents. It has become so bad that at least two states had to pass laws allowing children to walk or play alone if their parents allow it
S Black it seems so foreign to me. I grew up in the USA and I only saw my parents at dinner time. Otherwise I was out and about with the other kids from the neighborhood. What happened to our country.
My neighbors called the police on my then-boyfriend in high school for waiting to pick me up in his car outside my house. I took too long to get ready and someone actually called 911 on him for being "suspicious" (he's mexican- this has never happened to me or my family, we're white, so I'm almost certain they called the cops on him bc he wasn't white)
@Montana here for you an even more "wow-experience" about freedom for kids in Europe: I live in Austria, one of the safest country in the world and where parents give their kids even more freedom than in Germany, I think. I live in Wien, a 1.9 million inhabitants city. Some weeks ago, I saw an about 7 years old boy alone in the underground and saw, that he looked confused and I saw that there were no parents around. I asked him "do you know, were you want to go? where are your parents?" then he said "I am alone and I want to go to ...-place and my mother knows this". Then I said to him "but if you want to got to ...-place, then you are wrong in this underground, let me show you where you have to go" and we jumped out of the underground before it started and I guided him upstairs to the street where a tram was going and I said to him "take this line until you hear ...-place"... ... I was not sure if I should go with him or let him go alone because it was a long trip with the tram to this place and he looked unsure but said "I know how this place looks where my destination is". So he went alone. Then I saw an official person of the public transportations of Wien in a control room with a window and I went to him and described the situation and asked, if that was right that I let the boy without parents going alone and he answered: "In Wien kids from 6 years are allowed by law, to go alone on public transportation" and then he laughed and said "in worst case he just goes in circle with the tram, he will not get lost in this town". I was really surprised about this extent of coolness despite I am used to see very young kids going alone on trams but usually they know were to go and go only few stops. By the way, it's part of the programm in kindergartens here to train with the kids to go on public transportations, surely in kindergarten only guided by adults and in a group, but they go frequently together on public transport.
"Even more freedom than in germany"
-keine quellen
-österreichischer nazionalstolzist(in)
-XD
17-year old Montana being scared on the playground, was the funniest thing she ever told ... to me. 😂
An interesting topic. I have heard stories that helicopter parents become an issue for teachers in Germany as well. About the playgrounds: yes there was a risk to get hurt so that made us more careful as kids. Small injuries or a small wooden splinter in your finger were normal in my childhood. I think the reason that the playgrounds in the US are made so safe might be that the parents could sue the one responsible for the playground if their child got hurt while being on it. Something that would only be possible in Germany in really severe cases like when the slide breaks down while your on it or something like that.
I am 40 years old now so it is kind of difficult to remember when i first was sent to the shop alone by my parents.I definitely did go to the bakery to buy bread rolls every saturday once i was in school but maybe even earlier. I did walk to school alone from day one but i did start school one year later so i was already 7 years old, almost 8 in fact. Also there were no big roads on the way though i remember quite well that i got stuck on a muddy field i used as a shortcut one day. I wasn't a kid who especially loved playing outside but normally the rule was to either play in front or behind our apartment block, so my parents could see me from the window. However when i wanted to go to the playground alone which was out of sight that also wasn't an issue. I just had to tell them that i would go there. So in general from my experience at least from school age on it wasn't an issue to be outside alone without the parents. (And at that time parents didn't have Whatsapp to contact their children anytime.) When it comes to school and doing homework my parents did care, but not too much. My grades weren't bad so they didn't have to worry about that. Also i wasn't a bully or something. I think as with most things the middle position is the right one here. Support and Care but not too much (doing the homework for your kids definitely is too much) and if your kid actually is a bully in school then you should take your responsibility as a parent to stop that behaviour. A typical punishment here in Germany was the 'Stubenarrest' the prohibition to go and play outside or visit friends. As i wasn't that fond of playing outside my parents usually used a TV ban instead.
Ok i leave it as this. Thanks for taking me down memory lane:-)
Tv Verbot hatte ich auch, ich bin erst 17
I would agree that the US playground design is probably to prevend someone suing the owner. I know a german innkeeper who had problems with helicopter parents and in the end closed the playground he owned right next to his inn though. It was the best playground I know, with a huge wooden pirate's ship to climb on and an enormous slide and so on, I loved to play there as a kid. But some helicopter parents tried to sue the owner. They didn't succeed but after the third time he closed the playground because he was afraid with the society in Germany slowly but steadily evolving away from expecting reason and personal responsibilty from everyone and towards more of a suing culture he would get problems in the future if some kid hurt himself due to the parents not taking care or the child doing dangerous things. So it's now a private playground for his grandkids.
@@regenbogentraumerin I think its no a good direction we are going with this. If a kid should not hurt himself at the playground, parents should teach them to be careful. I don't want to live in a society, where parents sue the owner of a playground because their little prince jumped from the roof of the climbing construction.
@@NeurosenkavalierEmilSinclair I totally agree. But I feel like more and more parents try to blame someone else if the child hurts himself. People in general try to blame others for everything to avoid to admit they might have made mistakes themselves. They also can't accept that some things are just normal and even neccessary in life and noone is to blame for that, they want the world to just be about them and their kids and nobody else.
Richtig blöd war halt Hausarrest und gleichzeitig Fernsehverbot zu bekommen. :D
My parents philosophy when I was a teenager can be boiled down (mostly) to: You may have all the freedom you want if your grades are fine (not necessarily perfect). If you get into trouble its your responsibility (not that wouldnt help me when I did).
As someone from Croatia who is learning German I'm glad that I found your channel. Keep the good work! 💕
i ja sam iz hrvatske 🤗
I lived in Appalachia for a number of years and there I found there that very small children were often left to their own resources. Toddlers would open a can of green beans and eat them out of the can. I knew a seventy year old man who had left home at 9 years old by hopping a train and going to Detroit. He did not return and had never seen his parents since. I once gave a ride to a couple of children who were hitchhiking on the interstate. The older boy looked about 6 and the younger boy three at most. It seemed incredible that the younger one could have walked as far as apparently he had. They had hitchhiked to a drive-in to watch a movie and we're heading home late at night. The older one asked me to let off him and his brother a few miles down the interstate from where I picked them up, but not at an exit. He said that where I dropped them off was the closest place to their house, which was up a holler about 2 miles off the interstate.
Scrapes and bruises hurt, so there's more incentive to learn how to avoid them instead of bouncing off the safe rubber ground covering without learning about the danger of falling. It all boils down to "the school of hard knocks" teaching children to grow up, providing them with the skills they'll be needing for their journey into adult life. As an aside - my grandpa taught me how to work with the Kursbuch (all train schedules in Germany) when I was just beginning primary school, making public transport accessible and easy to plan efficiently, including layovers and distances within stations along the route.
I experienced that German teens can be very open and supported by their parents when they start beeing interested in love and physical love. So boyfriends or girlfriends are allowed to stay over night as young as 15 or 16. In the US other parents where shocked when I told them about this. As I was shocked that young couples in their twenties where expected not to live together until they are married.
I were allowed to sleep over at my boyfriends house and his bed when I had my first one with 14 years
Many American parents don't allow their *adult* children to sleep in the same bed as their partner when they visit
S Black that’s just strange and weird
Well the thing is we get real sex ed over here, not just "abstinence only". So, yeah, the kids will have sex but they'll be safe. It's not like in the US which has the highest number of teen pregnancies and teen abortions out of all industrialized countries. Abstinence only sex ed simply doesn't work. The Scandinavian countries are even better at sex ed and their classes include really practically training how to use condoms (with a banana, of course) and they have the lowest number of teen pregnancies and abortions.
the sleepover situation was a BIG shock!
Hi Montana , interesting to see the differences. As I am father of two "creatures" at your age now (more or less) i believ 100 % in the power of youth and a guided way to freedom and independancy for them. I am German and my kids are born in spain so we also travelled a lot and I believe on of the things which let me feel very secure is the point that in comparison to the US e.g. we have not really any danger here in Europe like shootings and heavy crimes. As you know actually it is fun here and if you open minded and talk to your kids abot the dangers there are actually veryy smart. trust your kids and be open . If you are a friend to your kids they will be friend to you :)
In Germany younger children with shorter ways to school often walk to school in small groups of children or cycle there later. As a child, I had a next door neighbour who was the same age as me. When went to kindergarten, to primary school and to grammar school together and whenever we would start going to a new school our parents would walk / cycle / ride the bus with us a few times before the start of the year and then we would do it on our own. To kindergarten (ages 3-6), we walked about 200m, to primary school (ages 6-10) it was a walk of about a kilometer. Grammar school (ages 10-18)) was about 3km from where we lived and we would cycle in the summer and take the regular city bus in the winter. Honestly, I cannot remember anything bad ever happening to me, my friends or anyone of my classmates on their way to or from kindergarten or school.
Today I'm a teacher and we still try to encourage parents not to drive their children to school, but to let them walk, cycle or take the bus on their own because the need to learn how to do that on their own and it's better for their health, too. We do have the expression "Helikoptereltern" in German too - mainly for those who do their children's school work for them and say things like "We're in 1st grade / we're learning English now" instead of "My child is in 1st grade / is learning English now". Of course this particular type of parent is not very popular with us teachers!
When I was able to understand things around me, I was maybe four or five, my parent said well, don't leave the neighborhood and be back at home when the lanterns turn on. BEING HOME WHEN THE LANTERNS TURN ON can be very late in summer, but that's what I did for pretty much my whole childhood
Being from The Netherlands myself (as you probably know, a neighbor country to Germany) I think that the freedom kids have is something you see in Europe in general. But here too it’s definitely a spectrum. At age 10 I took the train all across the country, by myself. I had friends who would take public transport throughout the city I lived in by them selfs, who would bike everywhere they wanted or needed to go. Going to the city center alone, at night. But I also had friends who weren’t even allowed to leave their streets.
Thank you so much , i fell in love in german language more and more with your videos.
It is so crazy that your channel got recommended to me! I am a student in passau and I know the exact playground you were talking about. Often when we go home from the bar in summer and it is around 2am, we climb into the net and lie in there and talk. It's really comfortable
When you compare it with other countries, most young Germans leave their parents house rather early and live on their own. Exception: when your parents live in an expensive city like Munich, Hamburg or Frankfurt (and you study there/make an Ausbildung) it can be a reason to keep staying at home with your parents. Usually, most of the German parents want their kids to move out not too late and let them earn their own money.
For example in Italy parents see that differently: When their kids already leave the house with 16 or 17, Italians think they have done something wrong in their education and were not good enough to their child. In big Italian cities (Milan, Rome, Naples) living space is scarce and expensive, so many people often share a little flat and the young people often stay at home very long.
Would also add Berlin to that list lol
@@sunnyblue7800 berlin ist jetzt nicht soooo teuer
that was actually very interesting
Good video as always. That was well observed and your parents have done a good job. This middle way between individual responsibility and total contral sounds quit familiar to me. I am impressed, how you deliver your show without any visible effort. It looks so easy and natural.
Thank you so much!
What we all can see through your videos and through the fact that you went abroad on your own is that your own parents parenting is very much based on a trusting and liberal relationship towards you, that’s a gift! Also loved to hear about your view on German parenting❤️
My parents were pretty relaxed about me partying too. They made sure I didn't stay at the clubs past the legally permitted hours (midnight for 16-year-olds I think) and told me never to leave my drink unattended but other than that...
I walked alone to the Kindergarten when I was 5 years old, my mom just took me across the street infront of our house.. First time I was so proud because it made me feel like being an adult.
I think childs from the u.s. probably would've been scared because many parents give them the feeling they need to be protected at all the avoid danger..
I used to love the playground in passau growing up!!! It was always like the best thing when we went on a shopping trip to the city and got to spent some time there!
There is a woman on youtube who wrote a book about german parenting vs the us...it is called achtung baby..an she (sara something) even has a whole talk on youtube for you to see if you are interested...from my perspective as a german she described it very good.. try it out if you want
Sara Zaske
@@Krokostad thanks/danke
Man, I loved these string things to climb on, when I was a child. Good times.
And I always thought that my German parents are too overprotective and that American parents are way more chill
I think the thing with picking your children up from a club at 2am really depends...my father wouldn't even pick me up at 11pm when the last train/bus was cancelled 😅 And I know a lot of people from small villages that walked like 2 hours home after clubbing bc there was no bus and no one would pick them up...
So it really depends on the parenting style even in germany
Tolles video....wie immer👍👍👍👍👍
Beginning sometime in the 1980's, American parents started to become more controlling of children's activities and general safety, especially among the upper middle class. I think it had to do with with the general fear of crime, which had been rising in the previous decades. When crime rates started to drop in the 1990's, the memories of years past remained despite lower risks. Trust me, parenting has been more relaxed in America in decades past. When I was a kid, we were sometimes expected to go away for the day, and not come back until dinnertime. Of course, my memories may be a little hazy.
On the outside of cities, we have some school buses as well,
in the cities you are showing your kids how to use the public system.
It would be funny to see a video how you handled that playground😁😉
When I was young, after my homework was finished, we agreed a time were i had to be back for Dinner, mostly between six or seven pm, it was up to the age.
As older i was, as longer i could go. If it would be late and not in time,
i called them immediately.
@Robert Zander Moin Robert.. Ja, hab auch immer eine Zeit mitbekommen. Bis ich in die Lehre gegangen bin.
Haben wir bei unseren Töchtern auch so gemacht.
Ein gravierender Unterschied zu meiner Jugend ist, dass meine Freundin damals nicht bei mir übernachten durfte. Und umgekehrt. Unsere Eltern hatten den Kuppeleiparagraphen in Fleisch und Blut.
Heute sehen wir das zum Glück anderes, lockerer. Das meine Große Ende der 90. allein mit dem Bus von HH nach Berlin fahren durfte, um ihren Freund, beide waren 14, zu besuchen, wäre Anfang der 70. noch undenkbar gewesen.
Anders ausgedrückt: Mein Vater hätte meine Bitte um Erlaubnis mit dem Satz beantwortet, wovon ich denn nachts träume!
😂😉
LG
Und da sag ich dir Montana, das die Kinder heutzutage, deutlich weniger "Freiheiten" haben und sehr sichere Spielplätze, als ich Kind war. Sämtliche Karussell, Klettergerüste usw. waren komplett aus Metall zusammenschweißt. Sitzflächen, waren aus Holzplatten, ja. Manchmal waren diese auch im laufe der Zeit verfault. Dann standen noch die Schrauben raus. Gespielt wurde dennoch damit. Und, es gab noch viel mehr Dinge, die man gemacht oder eher nicht gemacht hat, die heute undenkbar sind. Und, Ich lebe noch! hehe
Grundsätzlich hast du natürlich recht, das auch mit kaputten Sachen gut weitergespielt werden kann/konnte. Aber die Tatsache, dass DU lebst, beweist in diesem Zusammenhang leider gar nichts, denn vielleicht sind ja -zig andere gestorben, die jetzt nichts sagen können (siehe: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_Bias )
@@MrJPG1000 , ich wollte auch gar nichts beweisen. Und von den Leuten, die mit mir, damals als Kind, gespielt haben (Klassenkameraden usw.), leben , soweit ich weiß, alle noch. ;-) Aber, wir haben natürlich mehr Verletzungen, davon getragen. Wobei dies heute immer noch passieren kann, jedoch wird das bei der Gestaltung (abgerundete Kanten usw.) , versucht zu vermeiden. Und in den USA, wahrscheinlich noch mehr als hierzulande.
You are so impressive, I am guessing you have incredible parents. Because of young people like you we have a bright future/.
I grew up in a small Southern Michigan town. I played on the woods for hours; rode my bike for miles and miles.
I just had to be home by dinner
I don't know the situation in the US, but in Europe (Western Europe, at least) I feel public transportation is pretty safe for kids who go to school, especially as it is at hours when a lot of people take the bus/tram/metro. I think it is safe because most normal people have a protective instinct towards children, even if they themselves are not parents, and people would react very fast in case there was a problem with a kid. Of course the family is the immediate environment for a child, but the entire society has a responsibility towards children, as they are the future. A sane society is one where people take care of and respect each other, which makes it a safer and a nicer environment for everyone. And I love your videos, you are a smart girl.
I am mid 50s.When I came home with a wound or bruises my parents just said: "stupid flesh has to be removed" ("Dumm Fleisch muss weg"). We had to make our experiences (and there were really dangerous things we made). This helped us to discover our limits and get aware of tricky situations.
I was 11 when had to take the bus all alone to school.In summer i also took the bike for a 10 km ride.
"Ein Indianer kennt keinen Schmerz!" ;o)
We had a similar string climbing thing on our playground but it was like a pyramid / tower. I loved it 😁 my parents drove me to school in first grade after that I took the bus (and I had to change the bus. It took me around 40 minutes to come to school)
3:08 I think in german we would call this a Kletterspinne, but I don't know why.
Your videos are great!
I listen to an interview of a city official from Zürich some time ago, about the safety of play grounds. And in a nutshell what he said was, that they want to make the play grounds save enough that no series injures can happen, but at the same time it should be challenging. So bruises, cuts and sprayed ankles are to be expected and should be part of growing up.
BTW zürich isn't in germany but switzerland is pritty similiar
My parents would never pick me up from a night club a 2 am. I either have to have a friend driving or drive myself, walk, go by bus (usually there is no bus after 6pm) or taxi.
Verstehe diesen Elternabholservice rund um die Uhr auch nicht ganz.
@@scure8931 so verhindert man dass die Kinder selbst besoffen mit dem Auto heimfahren oder sich von besoffenen Kumpels heimfahren lassen.
peter koller und am Anfang haben viele auch noch keinen Führerschein... meine Eltern haben aber trotzdem lieber Geld für das Taxi gegeben. 😉
@@peterkoller3761 es gibt reichlich weitere Möglichkeiten es Heim zu schaffen. Wie kriegen es tausende andere Menschen hin? Haben diese die Teleportation gemeistert?
Mach dich nicht lächerlich.
@@scure8931 "Verstehe diesen Elternabholservice rund um die Uhr auch nicht ganz."
Ich denke das gilt nur für Ausnahmefälle. Auch deutsche Jugendliche gehen nicht jedes Wochenende in die Clubs, das ist schon was besonderes. In solchen Fällen dann Gruppen-Heimfahrten über die Eltern von einem Freund auszumachen war normal. So wollten die Eltern es schaffen, dass wir mal "tanzen" gehen können. Wenn wir das ständig eingefordert hätten, hätten uns die Ellis aber auch schräg angeguckt.
The most of us (german teens) interessed for theire own education! In the age from 6 until 12 because your parents told you to do. In the age of 13 to 15 you lose interesting for education but after that they start to care without your Parents told you.
Yes we have a lot of freedom but we learn to handel it very early because in the age of 12 they start slowly to give you more responsibility. In the age of 16 we can do whatever we want (not everything but many things) And then we start drinking Alkohol with our Friends nearly every secondtime we meet.
We learn to be careful because everytime we get more freedom we get more responsibility.
My parents never did something for me like school projekts and i love them for doing that. I would hate to lose my freedom and partying with my friends. My parents support me when ever i pleased them. I feel like they did a very good job (sometimes my mom was very strict but my dad did help me sometimes the other way around)
Sry my englisch is very bad (In germany an classic Alman would say: "My english is not the yellow from the egg but it goes"😂😂😂 )
We also have one of those Web Strcutres in our Town .... it's an at least 16~20ft Tall Web Tower, which is standing there for over 20 years now, an always has kids climbing on it with no safty concerns - and as far as I know, nothing had happend so far.
I only went back on it once more during my 20th, and I really wondered why the heck did I go on that tower so often back then.. man what a great time xD
Pls make more videos in german 💕 ich bin deutsche und finde dass, du sehr gut sprichst 🥰
My father picked me up at midnight or so from a party I wanted to leave, even when he was ill at this day. Normaly I wanted to drive with some of my friends, but they did not want to leave. I learned to drive alone by bus when I was 15 and went to another school. Bevor I went by bike most of the time.
Well if you are used to the Bussystem it is so easy :) and usually there is always older students on the bus from the same school because our schools are from year 5-12 :)
I'm a little jealous. Have fun at UVA!! I lived in Cville for 6 months and I totally loved it. I was an au pair. I loved Uva and the whole campus. Go to Bodos Bagels and Trinity Pub! It's so much fun. I miss Bodos. It's so yummy.
That playground in the pichture you showed was actually pretty save in comparison to some playgrounds i know. Well these have been made more safe in the last three or four years, but i remember a three meters tall metal slide with like ten centimeter high bordes on the sides.
Of course thats more dangerous, but i think a child will learn more on that slide than in a room full of pillows.
My mother always said "The kid will come back when he gets hungry" but we lived in a settlement with a lot of children and parents (wow) so there where unnoticed parental eyes watching most of the time
Research well done!
Playgrounds were even more "dangerous" in the 70s/80s. We also just played in woods and gardens and climbed large trees or garden sheds (one of my friends once broke his arm when he fell from such a shed, but overall, real accidents were rare), rode BMX bikes over selfmade jumps. Elementary school kids would carve wood with pocket knifes. At about 11 I started tinkering around with a "chemistry for kids" set, burning stinky bits of sulphur etc. Or make matchboxes blow up.
Parents were usually very relaxed about such things. They also drove us around with 6 kids on the backseats of a car. Parental strictness showed in rather different areas, e.g. what kind of punishment would happen if one did not meet a curfew, got bad grades or did something else wrong.
I always vibe so hard to that intro song 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Great video 😍🥰👍🏻 it's just like that 😂💜
I had to walk to school when I was in 1th grade :D It was a 10 minute walk and did it all by myself :) But there were a lot of other children walking to school so you were never completely alone actually. When I finished elementary school and went to the Gymnasium (5th grade) I had to ride the city bus and it was a 25 minute ride I guess. It worked really well.
Everytime my son had a party (from age 14) at home i visited my friends! I ever trusted him!
I was quiet happy when my dear mother walked me to primary school the first time, once :-)
Me and my sister walked to school alone starting in first grade. Granted, we lived only like a hundred meters from elementary school. After elementary school we took the bus. Our mother went with us for about a week so we knew what to do and where to go and afterwards we went alone. Easy peasy. The only kind of protection we had was when we went back from school there was a teacher waiting with us (meaning all the students that took the bus to get home) at the busstop. But that was mostly to make sure nobody got in front of the bus before it stopped and to ensure we enter the bus in a somewhat orderly fashion.
The really sad thing is that it wasn't THAT long ago that kids in the US had similar levels of freedom as their german peers. I was an exchange student back in 2000, and my american host siblings had had a pretty similar childhood compared to mine.
And then something happened.
In 3rd grade i was on that exact playground in passau you are talking about and as i was raised not far away from passau (~30km) it was completely normal.
Your description of schoolchildren riding the bus immediately made me think of the book "Free-Range Kids" by Lenore Skenazy. There is now even a movement in America called "free-range parenting".
The basic factor here is that American politicians and media are very good at keeping Americans in a continual state of fear. In America, just as in China (you know, the country America loves to hate), there are only a few good seats at the table, people believe that the best (or only) way to get one of them is by collecting academic achievements and passing competitive exams, and so parents in both countries obsess about getting their children on the right academic track and turning childhood into one long exam preparation. While that's going on, the American parent's mental map is populated by innumerable threats and dangers, from ill-made toys to pedophiles. The result is that the next generation doesn't learn self-reliance and becomes even more susceptible to fearful images. Neat trick!
Helicopter parents or "Helikoptereltern" are becoming a problem in Germany as well. yes, you see a lot of kids on the busses, even elementary school kids. but there are also parents who drive their kids to school still when they're sixteen or seventeen.
I know right?! I also used to have this friend and I was like let's meet up and they were like I can't I have to walk my little sister home from school and I was like how old is she? and they said shes 14 xD like what? I walked home alone when I was 6 lmao
Well I was at Europa Park a few days ago and there was this mum who actually walked behind her kid who was like 4 on the tracks of a little kiddie train to make sure nothing happens... the ride was small and she would have seen her kid at all points.. like... I don't get it.
There was another set of parents who swam beside their kid on an obstacle course.at the water world rulantica... if it falls you won't be able to catch the kid ... the kid was faster than its parents anyways....
I live in Germany and I had to walk to school since I was 5. I take the bus to my high school since 5th grade and I habe to get to friends or other stuff with it too. My parents are kinda strict, since they don’t allow me to stay outside after 10pm (I’m 15) or to do „dangerous“ things. Parenting ranges in Germany a lot too, I mean even in my town there are so many different parenting styles.
about the bus ride to school: realistically, most kids only do that for comparably short distances and in most cases without having to change busses and what not. because the biggest danger for kids taking the bus and having to switch would be them getting lost or on a wrong bus, not really other passengers
and of course there is the whole range of very strict to parents who dont care in germany too. but maybe more people are closer to the middle
i think germany has a more relaxed way with kids & teenagers
if the school is
That is not correct. Kids are allowed to drink beer from age 14 under supervision of their parents. 16 is the age required for buying soft alcohol and drinking without supervision.
Hey, as i was in 2th grade I started going to school alone. And immediately other parents started talking bad about my parents. But I also know parents which are totally fine with that. So it really depends. Today I’m 15. As long as I’m back at 10pm I don’t have to tell my parents where I am or what I am doing (same with my friends) but if it’s longer I have to text my mom. But because I learned independence since I was young I know that I should and shouldn’t do. But most importantly my parents trust me and I trust them.
As kids one of our games was to climb the highest tree we could find while our parents where at home
I remember my father telling me how they would always go out into the woods to play as children. Video games, of course, keep children more at home ever since my days. :)
I think you have to see this in a way more opportunistic way.
Its pretty common that in germany both parents have a job, and you start to work somewhat between 6-8 am, and school starts around 8.
And a workday is usually longer than school day, so again, no chance to pick up the kiddies after school.
when i was a child in Germany i actually didnt know how the busses function, where it goes or at which time it came. i only knew which number i need to ride on and where to go on/out. it wasnt until much later that i understood the bus system with the timers etc.
When I was 13, my parents went to a conference in Berlin and added some vacation days afterwards. And because the conference was pretty boring for children, me and my 10-year old brother stayed in the zoo for 6h. Our parents had shown us the way to the conference building, so when we got bored, we walked there.
My mother always tells the story of me around 2-3 y/o going to a playground 500m from home and nobody knew where I was. I came back 2 hours later to get a toy. She was crazy of sorrow but I managed it quite well.
When I was 6 or 7 I used to be outside 5h from Dinner to lunch.
Not so any more. My nefews also come around, but most of the time, they're home.
Heh, I just had a perspective check. Pertaining to the rope-web-thing on playgrounds, I wanted to say that children have way less fear if they don't know that they should be afraid. But maybe that's different...
Yes, I always imagined American parents to be more strict and protective than German ones. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. I know that cuz some of my American friends told me, what parenting is like in the US.
But I have a question for you: What would you have done in Germany, but couldn’t because you had to fly home due to corona?
Großartiges Video, wie immer, Montana! Much love from Germany! 😄
tbh i think going to pick up your kids at 2am from a club is pretty damn protective
Jürg Nobs they want to help you aswell, so you don‘t need to go home by Train/Bus/...
@@jurgnobs1308 they pick you up, because you want them too. its way easier than taking the bus or a train (for yourself lol, the parents have to stay awake or have to wake up again)
@@hannesr133 sure. but it still is quite protective
@@jurgnobs1308
Not everyone lives in a big city where you can just walk home. In the countryside it's either picking them up or they're basically stranded unless they can find someone else to drive them
My parents always left me as much space as i needed, for me it turned out trying some things but than realizing i dont need drugs and lots of alcohol.
Aditionally i took the bus to school from the first grade.
You are totally right. Once i saw a girl (12 years old) in a train from Munich to Berlin (5 houres) alone
When I'm outside playing with the younger kids in my neighbourhood I have to be at home for dinner. I think I could go everywhere where I want but I always say my parents where I go so they don't have to worry.
When we older ones on our street were younger we climbed on trees or even on the Osterfeuer which is collected the whole year. And when it's burned we always stand very close and play with the fire even the the fifth year olds, okay we teens take care that they don't get into danger but there's nearly no dangerous situation and the adults can drink their beers (also some of the older teens drink one) and the kids get Capri Sun for the most teens there's Fassbrause. When the young kids have to go to bed we then listen to the political discussions of the adults and ask things we don't understand. That's the way we learn: Teens show/tell the kids teens listen to the adults.
Do anyone remember the time without mobile phone and internet? When we got home completely dirty? Or am I the oldest here? 🤣😃😍
@Robert Reuss OMG thats so scary
Yepp, dirty to my eyebrows, often with completely soaked clothing from playing in a creek or pond, building dams, catching tadpoles or frogs. Scrapes from rock climbing, scratches from brambles, bruises from playing soccer. But elated, happy, joyfull, sane.