Early sexualisation in German kindergartens: Kerpen kindergarten causes trouble with mastubation room for toddlers

Is Germany just stupid? Excuse me? The so-called sex education concept of a Catholic daycare centre in Kerpen-Türnich is currently causing quite a stir. Children were apparently offered a room to masturbate in the St Rochus kindergarten. This was reported by various media outlets on Friday (12 January 2024). Is this a misinterpretation?

Kindergarten in Kerpen with a questionable concept

Bild quotes from the concept. It states: “Individual children are allowed to withdraw into a protected space according to their needs in order to discover and satisfy themselves physically (this is not permitted in public spaces and in the presence of others).” The concept was publicly available on the kindergarten’s website. It is now no longer available and has been removed.

Another passage read: “When a toddler plays with its private parts and touches them with obvious pleasure, it knows nothing of social taboos, of what is not proper, let alone that what it is doing is considered indecent or dirty. They explore and discover their bodies and like to linger where it feels particularly good.”

Every daycare centre in North Rhine-Westphalia must present a sexuality concept. The concept of the daycare centre in Kerpen already caused trouble in November. The centre was inspected by various authorities at the time. City of Kerpen: concept is currently being revised. A spokeswoman for the city of Kerpen told Bild: “Neither the location of the daycare centre itself nor the impression gained during the on-site visit left a questionable or negative impression.”

The document was removed from the internet in November 2023 because it could have been misinterpreted. It is now being revised again. The Archdiocese of Cologne also assured that there is no such masturbation room for daycare centre children.