"I wish that children would be treated like kings" - Bernd Siggelkow from the Arche in an interview

Bernd Siggelkow, head and founder of "Die Arche" is familiar with child poverty. In 1995 the former youth pastor founded the Christian children and youth work. In his new book "Childhood on the Edge of Despair" he shows the fatal consequences of the lockdown and the isolation of children. For him it is clear: what children and young people from socially disadvantaged families had to experience can have lifelong consequences. We met him for an exclusive interview.

Mr. Siggelkow, with "Childhood on the Edge of Despair" you have written a book that hurts everyone who perhaps has less contact with social disadvantage.

My book is a major critique of a system that I believe has collapsed. It showed how left our children really are. Of course that makes me angry on the one hand, but on the other hand it shows me that we have to find ways to tackle problems. We at the Arche have been fighting child poverty for 25 years and when I had to close the Arche in 2020, my heart bled. I always thought I would create a paradise for children where they could live carefree and then I had to make this. It's so incredibly frustrating, that's why this book exists. Maybe that will wake up some people.

How did you experience the lockdown period in the Arche?

Within a few hours we managed to organize a virtual, digital ark that is crisis-proof. We were always with the people and that gave me hope. The families had nobody at the time.

We had already done a lot of work with parents before, e.g. B. made unannounced visits. This gave us a better insight into the families even before the lockdown than youth welfare offices have. But now it was different again, we were in a rubber band situation, the problems people were having were so unbelievable that they now dared to call us at night too. That was not so before. Trust has grown because they have seen the help system has collapsed, nobody is there for us, but the ark is. This gave us a different perspective than we had before.

Why did the families get in touch with you?

Suddenly it wasn't just about moral support. We've seen parents who were on the verge of despair because they realized I couldn't do homeschooling, I couldn't do digitization. I can't manage to be a good mother to my child, even if I want to be a role model. These were extraordinary situations that also broadened our horizons.

Are you sometimes angry about the circumstances children grow up in?

We take care of a mandatory state task that the state does not perform. If you look back at 2015, more than 1 million refugees came to Germany. Who caught them? Politics or volunteers? If our country weren't made up of volunteers, we would have been overrun. And it's similar with the ark. If we were to close the Arche today, the youth welfare office would collapse because they wouldn't be able to solve the problems that they don't even know about because we eliminate them in advance. It would be pure chaos here. In our country, we rely on people who have a good heart and make a difference.

Don't the political measures for socially disadvantaged families often ignore their concerns?

I want to give you an example: With the Children's Commission of the German Bundestag, nobody knows exactly who is actually sitting in there and those who are sitting in there have probably never seen a disadvantaged child in their lives. It's the same with most politicians. Decisions and laws are made without asking a child. Things are written down that go past people.

Something has to change: a million poor families do not benefit from child benefit

Could you perhaps give a specific example?

Willingly. There are help hotlines that can be reached during normal office hours. Apparently there are no more problems in Germany after 7/8 p.m. Such numbers can often only be reached by those children who have money on their smartphones. WhatsApp is not used for privacy reasons. When I researched that, it became clear to me again that the legality of child protection had not been considered at all.

The Arche can be reached 24 hours a day, you can also reach us via WhatsApp. Of course, these numbers then say we don't have enough money, not enough volunteers. That may be all. But I said to myself I want to help. And then I can't say I can't be reached at 3:00 am. I can't say, when a child wants to take its own life: the police are responsible for that. Of course I'm being very drastic now. But children do not turn to the police in such desperate moments, but to confidants. And they have to be accessible.

But help hotlines that are always available are not enough for child protection and support for disadvantaged children, are they?

Not only are we missing toll-free numbers, of course, we're missing organizations and people that people know and trust. Politics cannot do that. But politics can create the framework for this. But she doesn't do that either. One of my demands is therefore to make child protection more permeable.

I'll give you a small example: Actually, every TV station should have run a break-away strip during the lockdown, as was the case with 9/11. Concern phone numbers should have been displayed on this around the clock so that people know where to turn in desperation. Politicians could have demanded that. But she hasn't.

A very simple number that everyone can remember would also be important for the children. The would then z. B. be repeated every morning at school so that the children know them. But that's not about our children in this society and that makes me sad.

Childhood on the Brink of Despair: The Fatal Consequences of Lockdown and Isolation

Why are we always so quick with our prejudices? Especially with low-income families, there are often many prejudices that are said to these families head on, I'm thinking of "You shouldn't have had so many children". Why do we shift the blame like this?

We are used to judging in our country, but not asking about history. It used to be said that socially disadvantaged people have many children because they then receive a lot of child benefit. Most people don't even know that a Hartz IV recipient doesn't get any child benefit.

They think people get a sentence and child support on top of that. But that's not true, they get the child benefit credited to the Hartz IV rate. The child benefit is around €200, but people only get a total of €250 for their children, and that includes child benefit.

Incidentally, one does not ask why a single mother has four children by four different men. You don't ask what she experienced herself. Many of these women, I experience this very often here in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, did not experience love as children and wished for children at a very young age in order to feel love. And if the first man leaves them, they might have a child with the next one to hold him.

risk factor

Hartz IV in Corona times: Many families can barely make ends meet

But in your opinion, would an increase in the Hartz IV rates really change that much?

It's not just money that people ultimately lack. I do think that the Hartz IV rates would have to be increased, if only because of the cost of living. But it takes more than that. People lack dignity and recognition. And who gives them that? Where are there jobs that secure a living for single mothers? Where are there opportunities for families to get funding for homeschooling?

Do we in society even think about what huge problem we will face in the next 20-30 years? Let me mention the old-age poverty of single parents. Hardly anyone talks about it these days, even though three quarters of single parents are affected by poverty. It automatically means that there will be a huge problem with regard to pensions. Nobody talks about it, not even politicians. Instead, we condemn, put people in boxes and say: "It's your own fault".

Actually, in our society, if you have a lot of children, you should be rewarded. But in Germany children are an incalculable risk of poverty. That's why we're slowly dying out.

Many people see the participation package as an achievement for low-income families. For many, that sounds like a lot of money. In your book, however, you calculate how little €150 is in reality. Why is this calculation necessary?

150 € looks a lot at first glance. But even if the sports club only costs €10 a month, I spent €120 a year on the contribution. There are still 30 € left. But who pays for the sports shoes? Or the trips to the competitions? Who pays for the instrument in music lessons? Extracurricular tutoring shouldn't cost any money if we want to encourage our children accordingly. 8.53 € is the rate that the student aid requires per hour. Then €150 is enough for 14 or 15 hours a year! That is by far not enough to support a child individually.

Keyword child security, you demand 600 € per child. How is that supposed to help the kids?

That's not a number from us, it comes from the child protection organizations. However, they demand that the money be given to the family so that the child has its own income, so to speak. I see that a little differently because we know the people. Even if there is an increase, the money is always used to plug holes. If I give the family 200 € more for the child today and the fridge breaks, then of course they buy a fridge with it first. But the money doesn't go to the child. That's why I say: half and half, half into the family, half into the education system. It's just like this: If I can take money into my hands today to change the education system, then I will ultimately do something good for every single child.

Ultimately, of course, more money is needed for the children at home. An example: Hartz IV or transfer payments pay for the textbooks, but they do not pay for the other things. Not the satchel, not the work materials. But that all costs money.

New numbers

Increased risk of poverty: Single parents are particularly affected

And what is often forgotten: If you have children, you also have higher running costs at home. The office pays the rent. But the operating costs, who will bear them after a year at home? What are the back payments for families? The money from the education and participation package cannot be used for this. Children cost money, but they must also cost us money because we are talking about the future of society. If they are not our present now, then the future will look bleak.

But are children our future? Nobody invests in them!

One of my core statements is yes: children are not the future, that is nonsense. Children are the present. We blind our eyes if we only see them in the future and not in the moment. That's the mistake we're making in society right now. We look to the future, but we don't have it because we don't invest in the present. We assume so many things.

Who is actually helping all the children who didn't get through the lockdown well?

Everyone says: children adapt overnight, they go back to school and the last year and a half are over. This is definitely not the case. Only people who either don't have children of their own or have never really looked can say that. Nobody provides help. Our psychologists only accept children who are at high risk of suicide because they are simply overrun.

And it's not all over either, it's still doing something with the children. As an example: In theory, the children now have school and sport again. And when will it be tested? During physical education class. Children need exercise, they need balance. Many haven't had it for a year and a half now.

When adults are sick for a year and a half or have stopped working, they don't go back to work normally. With the Hamburg model, they are slowly being reintroduced to the job market. Sometimes three, sometimes four hours. Our children are expected overnight to be able to sit still in school for five hours straight away. Also from the current second graders who never really had lessons. They started school during Corona and never really saw teachers and classmates, they should do it overnight. It's all up to the child. Nobody takes care of the children, nobody.

What do you actually think of these catch-up programs that politicians have passed, keyword holiday school?

There are children who got through it well. But there are also the others. How many hundreds of thousands of children have now been left behind? They keep up in class and are tomorrow's losers. Who catches this? What if the basics are already lacking?

These summer schools are a punishment for disadvantaged children. They are punished because they don't get enough support because they can't afford tutoring. And then they have to repeat the class. The children are pushed to do all this because we are not able to support the children accordingly.

You also write in "Childhood on the Verge of Despair" about the shocking statistics showing how many children have been affected by violence and sexual assault during the lockdown. How do we manage to change these statistics?

By making people aware of what it is doing to the children. The first report on poverty and wealth in the Federal Republic came out 20 years ago. At that time, 1.2 million people were living in financial poverty. There was a moment's attention, and for the first time many people realized that there is poverty in Germany. Poverty figures have now tripled and we have learned nothing from them.

In 2005, there was Jessica, the first child to officially die as a result of neglect. Today 1-2 children die from it every week. What has changed? Nothing! There is always a flare-up in the media and nothing changes. We have become a fast-paced society. We might also be more interested in the negative news. But we are used to going back to business then. It doesn't affect us.

I've buried six children in the Arche in my life, I'll never let that go again. But as long as it has nothing to do with the lives of the readers, the topic will only be a flare-up in the media.

New study

Worrying: Corona crisis exacerbates the situation of children living in poverty

You write that we are on the way to becoming a country of egotists. Won't volunteer work die out at some point?

I believe that if we had enough role models, there would be more people who would be more motivated. But as we grow colder and colder in society, it is also becoming more difficult to have role models that people can orient themselves to. If we have the role models, then there will also be volunteer work. Then people follow in those footsteps of those who bravely went ahead. If we don't always do everything just for the sake of economy, only then can solidarity grow again.

But at the same time, you can't just rely on voluntary work. But that is what politics is doing at the moment.

Is your work stressful for you?

Definitive. During lockdown, the first thing we did when we woke up was to pick up the phone to see if any children had died. Nothing actually wakes me up, but when I get a call on my cell phone, I'm wide awake straight away. You put yourself in a great responsibility. Nobody can save the whole world, but at least I can make sure that things around me are okay.

What can the individual do if he now says I want to help?

We need to learn as a society to be more child friendly. This anonymity between adults and children is a big problem. That hurts childhood. Adults need to notice and reach out to children. If a child has injuries, then you should speak to them about it and not just walk past it. You can also call the police, that can help. It also shows an interest in children in general.

What is also important: There are so many people who need support. We all have neighbors. Nobody has to invite anyone over, but you can get creative to support other families. We have to stop thinking only about ourselves.

If you could wish for anything, what would it be?

Is our family a good team?

My conclusion

The interview with Bernd Siggelkow left me very thoughtful. Although I never thought that 150 € participation would be a large sum of money, it was only through Siggelkow's book that I realized how few children can ultimately be supported.

Of course that's ignorant, I don't exclude myself from that. But it doesn't have to go on like this. As the Arche founder rightly says, we can all do something. By that I don't mean donating discarded clothes or toys, it helps but may not be the first step. But approaching others, offering them help, that's what has the greater impact. And we really can all do that.

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