Parents’ rights also involve duties towards the child.
Parents should be able to shape their children’s upbringing. At the same time, they must care for and protect the child and consider their development. The right is therefore inseparable from the child as a person and from the child’s needs.
As children grow, their ability to act independently and responsibly develops. Section 1626 of the Civil Code requires parents to take this into account and discuss matters with the child according to their development. Upbringing is therefore more than issuing one-sided orders.
The other three answers
Other people and institutions can have important roles without replacing parents’ primary responsibility.
the state.
The state has protective and oversight duties. It is not generally the body that takes over all upbringing in place of parents.
the grandparents.
Grandparents can be very important and help in everyday life. Being a grandparent alone does not make them primarily responsible for upbringing.
the schools.
Schools provide education and have important roles in children’s everyday lives. Attending school does not remove parents’ fundamental responsibility for upbringing.
Parents’ rights are subject to legal limits from the outset.
Children have rights of their own. Section 1631 of the Civil Code excludes violence, physical punishment, emotional harm and other degrading measures in care and upbringing. “Parents raise the child” therefore does not justify violence.
The exam answer describes the constitutional principle. How responsibility is allocated in an individual case, such as sole responsibility or guardianship, is governed separately. Support from trusted people or professional services can fit well with responsible upbringing.
Article 6: parents and children · Basic Law ↗Parents: the primary right and duty to raise the child.
Keep both sides together: room for parents to make decisions, and protection and participation for the child.
Three words for this question
- die Erziehungupbringing
- Guiding and supporting a child towards acting responsibly and independently.
- die Pflichtduty
- A responsibility that one is required to fulfil.
- eigenverantwortlichacting responsibly for oneself
- Making one’s own decisions and taking responsibility for them.