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Prison sentence for mothers: According to the court, children are not to blame
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
Because they don't send their 12 and 15 year old sons to school, two mothers in Schleswig-Holstein are threatened with three days in prison. The Schleswig Administrative Court has ordered compulsory detention for three days for the mothers of the 12 and 15 year old boys, a court spokeswoman said on Friday. The court assumes that the mothers have sole custody in both cases, which is why only they and not the fathers were held responsible.
A mother said her son was in the “Germanistic education system.”
One case takes place in the Ostholstein district. According to court information, the boy in question attended school there quite regularly until 2019/2020, and in 2022 the child was temporarily taken into care. The mother later explained that her son was now in the “Germanistic education system.” The other case takes place in the Dithmarschen district, where the child attended a Waldorf elementary school until 2020.
According to the administrative court, the women had not paid fines of 800 euros each. Authorities had imposed these amounts because of violations of official orders regarding school registration and compliance with compulsory schooling. Attempts at enforcement were unsuccessful.
Children are not to blame
The school authority cannot take action against the young people themselves, the spokeswoman reported. The children should also not be the victims of a situation that was not their fault. With a view to the boys' further development and possible school completion, a short-term deprivation of liberty is appropriate to enforce the state's educational mandate.
The resolutions passed on January 26th are not yet legally binding. The mothers can still appeal the decision to the Higher Administrative Court.
has/dpa