Anti-discrimination work by parents in voluntary work
In order to ensure that their children are safe in schools and other facilities, parents act as volunteer anti-discrimination counsellors in schools and leisure facilities on behalf of their children.
They incorporate the perspectives of marginalised groups, arrange speakers, organise cultural exchange days, create various book corners in school collections and constantly point out boundaries to discrimination. Their tireless efforts, born out of necessity, are rarely recognised, let alone rewarded. They experience resistance from specialised staff as well as from other children, young people and parents. The topics on which they provide information are uncomfortable, point to power imbalances and thus demand a confrontation with their own privileges. Parents and adolescents regularly report that they are not taken seriously, are considered to be ‘over-emotional about anti-discrimination issues’ and experience bullying and rejection due to ‘accusations of discrimination’.
Quote
‘…When a case of discrimination arises at a school, a lot of educational and persuasive work has to be done. So before we can even deal with a case, there are long discussions about what discrimination is. However, if we all had an awareness of this, we could solve the problem more quickly. This requires professionalisation measures that are critical of discrimination for teachers and head teachers as well as for all administrative staff in education administration, including managers….’
Derviş Hızarcı
Anti-discrimination officer of the Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family in an interview on his resignation.
Background
Regular staff training and events for parents and children are required to ensure inclusion. This is additional work that neither the facilities nor individual parents can guarantee. There is a shortage of staff and an increased lack of resources in schools and leisure centres. Basic care is not guaranteed, schools and daycare centres are unable to provide childcare at all times due to a shortage of teachers and school places.
The parents from the association’s network estimate their voluntary commitment at 3 to 9 hours per week per child and discrimination incident, including all communications: Email traffic, phone calls, conversations in the schoolyard with education staff and other parents, parent meetings with and without children in schools and offices and counselling centres.
This fact has so far been given little/no consideration in studies on diversity in voluntary work in Germany.
The GNGB team wants to find out how extensive the commitment of parents in particular is and how many resources need to be generated in order to actually guarantee equal access to education and participation in social life.
The team has therefore decided to conduct a study. The study has the following objectives:
- Determine the average amount of time parents spend when their children experience discrimination in institutions and organisations
- The extent of voluntary parental involvement of marginalised groups in anti-discrimination work in institutions and organisations should be surveyed.
Realisation
The study will be conducted from 1 August 2024 to 1 March 2025 and then evaluated.
Participation takes about 15 minutes. The questions can be triggering. Surely some of your children have already experienced discrimination several times, then simply indicate the option that you have experienced most often. Please note: When we refer to the young person(s), we mean the children and young people living in your household.
The study collects anonymised data, so please do not enter any names in the answer fields.
In March 2025, the team will analyse the study and publish the results on the association’s website. Participants will be informed of the results by email.
We hope that you will take part in the study in large numbers so that we can collect as much data as possible.
Responsible persons
The study is being conducted on a voluntary basis by Beatriz Molina Diaz and Sonja Prinz. The GNGB team is providing additional support.
Beatriz Molina Diaz is a social worker and works as a volunteer at Global New Generation.
Sonja Prinz is a mother of Black children and works voluntarily on the board of the organisation, as well as managing transcultural education projects and as a freelance anti-discrimination trainer.
Here is the study
We would be delighted if you would share the link to the study with the people in your network.
