- The head of the Swiss Federation of Teachers gave an interview.
- In it, he said that kids are coming to school wearing diapers.
This is a translation of a story originally that appeared in BILD on Jun 13, 2023.
Swiss educators are sounding the alarm: there are more and more children in schools who are still wearing diapers.
"Kids are going to school as early as four years old now, so yeah, you might actually find some still in diapers," Dagmar Rösler, head honcho of the Swiss Federation of Teachers, told "20 Minuten".
But it's not just about the age they start school – an increasing number of older students also depend on diapers, and it's not for health-related reasons.
Child development expert Rita Messmer once even had an eleven-year-old patient who wasn't taught how to use the toilet on their own. The number of kids wearing diapers in school has "skyrocketed," she told the "Sonntagszeitung." She's swamped with inquiries.
Educational scientist Margrit Stamm is familiar with the problem, too. Diapers have come a long way over the decades. Nowadays, they can be worn "like normal underwear," she told the "Sonntagszeitung." "So kids get conditioned to diapers."
She went on, "Some parents let it slide, because diapers are a convenient relief. It's not seen as a problem these days." Apparently, there are parents who put their kids in diapers for outings, or because they want to sleep in a little longer in the morning. "That sends a totally wrong message," says Stamm.
Teachers shouldn't be changing diapers
The ones suffering are the teachers. Federation head Dagmar Rösler told "20 Minuten:" "Parents have a responsibility to make sure their school-aged kids aren't wearing diapers anymore. When eleven-year-olds come to school in diapers, that's a worrying trend. Teachers aren't there to change their students' diapers. That's crossing a line."
The diaper issue has some bizarre side effects: The "Sonntagszeitung" dug up an ad where a working couple is looking for "a lady" who could be "on call to change our five-year-old son."