What the West can learn from communism.

last updated 8 January 2015

Germany

Franziska Günther

As Germany struggles to be more “child-friendly,” it may want to take a look back to East Germany, said Franziska Günther in Hamburg’s Die Zeit. The very goals the Federal Republic has just outlined—free kindergarten for every child and after-school care for those with working mothers—were met decades ago in the communist East. Kids ages 1 to 3 were housed in group nurseries, while those ages 3 to 6 spent all day in kindergarten. Parents could drop their toddlers off at school as early as 6 a.m. and know they’d be well cared for until quitting time. Of course, the free baby-sitting service came with heavy political baggage. Kindergarten was East Germany’s first chance to teach a child “how to be a good socialist citizen.” Games and activities were designed not to foster creativity, but to encourage conformity. “No coloring outside the lines.” And kindergarten teachers were graded by “political supervisors” who made sure that lessons about patriotism and reverence for communist leaders were part of each day’s curriculum. In today’s Germany, kindergarten is for playing, not propaganda. But even back then, former Easterners say, “we always had fun.”