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Karline Wenzel, 42, is a self-employed communications consultant and co-founder of the “Parents in Crisis” initiative launched in April.
The group operates a homepage and a Facebook group where parents can share their experiences with the corona pandemic.
Karline Wenzel has two daughters, three and five years old, and lives in Munich.
WORLD:
Ms. Wenzel, this Tuesday the federal and state governments are discussing how to proceed with daycare centers and schools after January 10th.
The education ministers have already made it clear that a return to face-to-face teaching is initially unrealistic.
How do parents view the situation?
Karline Wenzel:
Parenthood currently seems much more heterogeneous than it was in the spring.
Some are calling for schools to be reopened at all costs because they simply cannot cope with a new homeschooling phase.
The others are very afraid of potentially exposing their children to the risk of the virus in school.
Those are the two extremes - most parents are somewhere in between.
Karline Wenzel sees the key question of all parents: "Where is the timetable, where are the solutions, where is the digital offer?"
Source: via Karline Wenzel
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WORLD:
What has changed since spring?
Wenzel:
News and, in some cases, speculation, such as the impact of a new virus mutation on children, also frighten many parents.
On the other hand, it was not yet clear in the spring how long the situation would last.
Families have been living in a state of emergency for ten months, and almost everyone has nerves.
However, how parents assess the situation is very much dependent on the personal situation.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to speak with one voice.
But of course there are topics that concern everyone equally.
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WORLD:
Which?
Wenzel:
There is uncertainty on all levels.
It is very annoying that one year after the outbreak of the pandemic we still do not have any comprehensive and reliable studies of the influence children have on the infection rate.
The main question of all parents with children is: where is the timetable, where are the solutions, where is the digital offer?
This is a topic that parents have in common: How can it be ensured that children can be looked after and schooled reasonably well?
That we prevent massive educational losses, but also avoid job losses?
It was clear that there would be a second wave, that we would come back to the situation where children had to be looked after and educated at home.
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Far too little has happened here.
There is compensation for parents due to closed care facilities.
But the use should be in the single-digit percentage range, as long as home office is considered to be regular care.
That can not be.
What does the government recommend to working parents who should contribute equally to the income and at the same time look after and school small children?
WORLD:
So it is mainly the long haul that tears your nerves?
Wenzel:
Right.
It is nice that Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) appeals to employers to enable a work-life balance.
But an appeal is simply not enough here.
I understand employers who say: parents as employees are pretty complicated in the current situation.
WORLD:
What are your specific demands on politics?
Wenzel:
The opening of schools and daycare centers is an important point, but not at any cost.
This must be differentiated according to the infection situation, reliability of the respective hygiene concepts and the age of the children.
According to various studies, daycare and primary school children seem to possibly not contribute as much to the infection process as adolescents;
In addition, other medical and developmental factors must also be taken into account.
What is most important for parents, however, is a minimum of commitment.
There must be guard rails and guidelines on how to proceed.
We parents need to feel that there is a plan for the families.
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WORLD:
What could such a plan look like?
What would bring relief to families?
Wenzel:
Social criteria have to play a role in emergency care, not just the question of system relevance.
Families with many children, parents working twice or single parents should have priority.
Guidelines are needed for this.
It should not be the case that daycare managers are left alone with the decision.
And we also have to look at working parents: We must not risk that mothers, who often take on the majority of the double burden, end up becoming completely unattractive for the job market.
Here we threaten to gamble away achievements that have been achieved in terms of reconciliation in recent years.
Families must be given a different status in Germany.
Politics has to think about families.
A lot of trust has been lost here.
WELT: But
there is also progress: The establishment of flexible working models such as home office, for example.
Wenzel:
Of course.
The establishment of home offices was accelerated enormously by the pandemic.
And it is also positive for parents that not every meeting has to take place in person.
But: Home office and looking after small children only work with the greatest effort.
For example, many parents try to work mostly in the evenings.
That goes a couple of weeks.
But not over a longer period of time - and that is also not possible in every job.
WELT:
The Greens have now demanded a care guarantee.
How is that supposed to work if the infection process is to be kept in check at the same time?
Wenzel:
The cat bites its tail.
The care system is too sewn to the edge.
If there are far too few educators, the whole guarantee of care is of no use.
It's a system problem.
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WORLD:
How exhausted is the parents?
Wenzel:
Huge.
The long-term health and psychological consequences of this show of strength are likely to be enormous.
We hear from many of our members of our Facebook group that the short break in summer was nowhere near enough to refill the tank.
The nerves have become thin, you can tell.
And that's not only the case for parents of small children.
Locking up adolescents with the urge to move around at home is stressful for everyone.
In addition, there is the concern that the children will be left behind if families cannot do this with so-called digital education.
What this will mean for the children psychologically in the long term cannot yet be foreseen.
How will the school lessons continue?
One thing is clear: It is unclear how the schools will continue.
Since education is a state matter, it is already clear that on Tuesday at the meeting of the federal and state levels there will be further arguments about the opening of schools.
Source: WELT / Philipp Reichelt
WORLD:
Do parents see the unfamiliar sitting on top of each other only as a problem or perhaps also as an opportunity for more family time?
Wenzel:
That is double-edged.
Many enjoy spending more time at home with their children and partner.
At the same time, however, it is extremely exhausting for many families, especially when it comes to their parents' professional obligations.
This is now more evident in the second lockdown than in spring - also because it is now becoming existential.
The parents also have to earn money and secure the family's income.
WORLD:
In the first lockdown, schools and daycare centers were the last facilities to be reopened.
Now the premise “education first” applies.
A conscious weighing of interests?
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Wenzel:
For the most part, it's probably a learning process and an admission of mistakes.
We parents have made a decisive contribution to this.
If the infection rate allows, schools and care facilities should be the first to open again.
At least that is how long there should be hybrid lessons in small groups.
It is important to us that the time perspective is clear.
I prefer to be told: This will go on until May than to doctor around from week to week.
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