The tension between school and home: our topic in November
While the schools were closed, someone rang the doorbell. It was our 10-year-old daughter's class teacher. He was carrying a thick pile under his arm. He was just in the neighbourhood and was using the time in lockdown to bring his pupils the latest maths and writing assignments in person. Over a cup of coffee, he talked about his family, our daughter showed him her room, and later they sat on the floor and played with the dog. Have I already mentioned that I think our daughter's class teacher is great? I don't know anyone who knows how to dovetail school and home better.
The relationship between parents and teachers plays a decisive role in solving school problems.
Benedikt Joos, psychologist and employee at the School Psychological Counselling Centre in Aachen.
The idea that schools are responsible for education and parents for upbringing has long since become obsolete. «Today, schools and parents are on a path towards an educational partnership.» This is how the text by our authors Fabian Grolimund and Stefanie Rietzler begins. The two psychologists explore the question of how schools and families can best work together. What mistakes schools should avoid when dealing with parents. And which sentences from mums and dads are most likely to drive teachers up the wall. I recommend our dossier «Tensions between school and home» to parents and teachers alike.
If you search the internet for the terms «KESB» and «criticism», you will quickly find what you are looking for. The Child and Adult Protection Authority does not have the best reputation - and has not had one since it was founded eight years ago. The harshest accusations are as follows: The KESB makes wrong decisions, is overburdened, incompetent and acts arbitrarily. The authority is a disgrace to Switzerland and should be abolished. David Lätsch, professor at the Institute for Childhood, Youth and Family at the ZHAW in Zurich, has intensively analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the KESB. «Parents mainly turn to the media when they feel they are being treated unfairly by the KESB,» says psychologist Lätsch. «You don't hear much from parents who are happy that the authority is getting involved because they hope it will ease the burden on them and their child.»
We are once again a little excited: For the fifth year in a row, Schweizer ElternMagazin has recorded an increase in readership. This is confirmed by the figures from the latest MACH Basic Study (2021-2) by WEMF AG für Werbemarktforschung. Currently, 213,000 readers use Fritz+Fränzi to find out about parenting topics - that's an increase of 5,000 compared to the survey a year ago. By comparison, the print edition of NZZ currently has 204,000 readers and Weltwoche 144,000. Fritz+Fränzi has gained a total of 70,000 readers since 2016 and has been the most-read parenting guide in Switzerland since 2018. The publisher and editorial team are delighted. And thank you for your loyalty. It's great that we can continue to support you. In good times and challenging times with your children.
If you don't want to wait until the next issue, our online team led by Editorial Director Florina Schwander will also be happy to provide you with information - as of now on our completely revamped website www.fritzundfraenzi.ch with the new section «Parental knowledge in 5 minutes», a revised navigation and the option to memorise texts and save bookmarks. If you register now free of charge, you will immediately get unlimited access to over 2000 articles (more information can be found here: May we introduce, our new website). Have fun browsing and clicking!
Yours sincerely, Nik Niethammer
