The Federal Youth Council on the Bundeswehr’s holiday camps

Such requirements must apply wherever holiday programmes for young people are organised. This also applies to the Bundeswehr’s holiday, orientation, IT and adventure camps, in which minors aged 16 and over are already eligible to take part. However, it appears that no specific training in educational work, child protection or the prevention of sexualised violence is required for the staff deployed there.

This is evident from the Federal Government’s response to a parliamentary question. In Bundestag Paper 21/5738, it states that no specific training in terms of educational qualifications, child protection or the prevention of sexualised violence is required for the organisation of such events. The only basic requirement for service in the armed forces is a police certificate of good conduct.

The Bundesjugendring considers this to be insufficient. Anyone who organises activities with and for young people bears a responsibility. This applies in particular to leisure activities lasting several days and to programmes for underage participants. Provided they are aged 16 or over, these participants may take part in Bundeswehr holiday camps.

Simply checking police criminal records does not address the specific issue of protecting young people. This is unlike the extended police criminal record, which also includes relevant convictions pertaining to work with children and young people – particularly in cases of sexual and violent offences. However, protecting young people from sexualised violence requires more than this, as protection against sexualised violence cannot be achieved through a police certificate alone. It requires training, clear protection strategies and transparent complaints procedures. In the view of the Bundesjugendring, ‘leisure activities’ organised by the Bundeswehr under state responsibility must under no circumstances fall short of the standards set by child and youth welfare services.

This highlights all the more clearly the disparity when compared with the work of youth organisations. Youth organisations set high standards for themselves and for their volunteer youth leaders. The Juleica certification requires practical and theoretical training totalling at least 30 hours. The minimum content includes:

• The role of a youth leader (tasks, functions, boundaries)
• Ability to lead groups
• Objectives, methods and tasks of child and youth work
• Legal and organisational aspects of child and youth work
• Psychological and educational principles for working with children and young people
• Risks associated with adolescence and issues relating to the protection of children and young people
• Prevention of sexual violence and dealing with breaches of sexual boundaries in child and youth work

Whilst young people volunteering in youth organisations receive comprehensive training to run leisure activities responsibly, comparable requirements are not to apply to programmes offered by the German Armed Forces. From the Bundesjugendring’s perspective, this is incomprehensible. There must be no lower standards simply because a programme is not provided by child and youth welfare services but by the Bundeswehr’s career centres or career advice offices. Protection standards must not be determined by the aim of a programme, but must fundamentally stem from a sense of responsibility towards young people themselves.

The Bundesjugendring therefore calls for binding standards for all programmes involving young people, particularly minors: pedagogical qualifications for the staff deployed, compulsory training on child and youth protection and the prevention of sexualised violence, transparent protection policies and independent complaints procedures. Where young people are approached to take part in leisure activities, the focus must consistently be on their rights, their protection and their participation, rather than on the Bundeswehr’s recruitment of new recruits and staff.

Beyond the lack of protection and quality standards, the Bundesjugendring also fundamentally questions such programmes if they serve the purpose of recruiting new recruits and staff for the Bundeswehr. Holiday and adventure programmes appeal to young people through the promise of fun, camaraderie and adventure. In doing so, they exploit formats that are actually intended to facilitate recreation, education, personal development and self-efficacy, in order to introduce young people to military careers. In the Bundesjugendring’s view, this is unjustifiable, particularly in the case of underage participants.

“Just as schools should not be venues for military recruitment, holiday programmes must not be used to recruit people for military service. Young people are drawn to these programmes through the promise of fun, camaraderie and adventure. This is precisely why a clear distinction is needed between educational and recreational spaces on the one hand, and the Bundeswehr’s recruitment efforts on the other. This distinction must not be blurred by leisure programmes that conceal military careers behind the guise of adventure and the romance of campfires,” said Wendelin Haag, Chair of the Bundesjugendring.