“Where are they?” one might ask. While in the last entry I mentioned about children in other cultures and some problems I would have, I want to write something about children in Germany now. But it is not always easy to find them here. Unless there is a special celebration for children I hardly see them. But perhaps this has nothing to do especially with Germany. Many other countries (particularly in the fist world) suffer from the same problem, the over-ageing of society.

But what could draw attention is how children look like here, or in other words what their parents make out of them. Unlike in many other countries, childhood in Germany is very long. Actually I can also understand why nobody really wants to become adult. Children here don’t have to work, they can have everything though, they are protected by the law and the state provides them with health- and social care. However, children in Germany are dressed like young adults.

My foreign guest, S. from the Republic of China, noticed about that. Since then I had an eye on it, too. Amazing how many four-year-old girls wear earrings and how many little girls, below the age of puberty, are dressed up with clothes (in kids size though) which usually adult women or girls would wear, if you know what I mean. In my childhood I wore Mickey Mouse and Goofy on many things (yea, we can argue about taste…) but nowadays I would only read famous brands on kids clothing (despite the fact that many of those are faked). For boys you can even buy mini-suits with lacquer shoes and everything. But of course it does not count what you can buy but what you see on the streets. And so it is more the hip-hop children (not teenagers!) who come into my mind.

Another thing, don’t be surprised when you come into a German village and the kids greet you there. They don’t want candy but are educated to be nice and friendly, even to foreigners. But a change can be observed also there. Children can be mean, and even to adults. For example they take two seats in the bus and reject to give one to another passenger when being asked or at least make a face. (This did not only happen to S. but also to me for many times.) So, dear tourist, don’t be shocked ;-)

Like I said, as a German I would perhaps have problems with children in different cultures. But I am sure that people from different cultures would have problems with our children too.