The editorial in September

What is a good childhood? Parents ask themselves this question for very different reasons. The answers are always the same: children should grow up well cared for. Without violence, without any kind of maltreatment or even sexual abuse.
According to a study published in the renowned specialist journal «Lancet» in 2015, the description of a beautiful youth needs to be expanded to include one more point: According to the study, one of the basic requirements is that children and young people are not bullied by their peers. We learnt just how complex and multi-layered the topic of bullying is while working on this dossier. I am particularly proud to have two recognised experts on board as authors: psychologists Fabian Grolimund («This topic is close to my heart») and Stefanie Rietzler. The two of them conducted numerous interviews with parents of bullied children; you will find the sometimes harrowing transcripts on our website in the course of September in the Parent Education category.

He has been silent for a long time. Now, for the first time, Danish family therapist and author Jesper Juul has spoken in detail about the use of smartphones in families. Juul does so in his usual calm manner: «Smartphones,» says the educationalist, «are now electronic family members. They attract too much attention and change the culture of families in a way that is unhealthy.» Juul warns of the consequences of too much mobile phone use: "Children feel frustrated, sad and disappointed by their parents' behaviour. They begin to doubt their own feelings and a large part of their self-esteem is lost. Alienation from their parents leads to a loss of trust and, in the worst case, to depression.

Juul's column «Smartphones have no place on the family island» first appeared on our website. The text triggered a huge response; it has been viewed over 100,000 times to date and shared more than 500 times on Facebook.

This issue marks the end of our 11-part ADHD series. In close collaboration with the Institute for Family Research, Fribourg, and with the support of the Mercator Foundation Switzerland, doctors, psychologists and experts have taken a very fundamental look at the topic, spoken to those affected, parents and teachers, addressed social and legal aspects and dealt with the issues of diagnosis and therapies.

I am pleased to be able to offer you the 11-part series as a free PDF download .

I hope you enjoy reading our magazine or online.

Yours sincerely, Nik Niethammer