The report by youth work in Wolfratshausen shows that more and more young people have mental problems.
The social workers have more appointments than ever.
Wolfratshausen – You suffered severely from the social restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Now we can see what traces the past few years have left.
More and more young people need help from social workers and educators.
In the annual report of the children and youth development association (KJFV) in the culture committee of the city council, managing director Fritz Meixner made it clear how great the need actually is.
Youth work raises the alarm - "We are worried" because children suffer mentally
As the name suggests, the KJFV takes care of different age groups.
In the youth department – which was the subject of the most recent meeting – eleven employees of the association work in the youth center, in mobile youth work and as youth social workers in the schools.
The last year saw a dramatic development, particularly in the case of the latter.
The five social workers at the elementary schools in Wolfratshausen-Weidach and Waldram, as well as at the two middle schools and at the Realschule in Wolfratshausen, worked on 257 cases – more than ever before.
Last year the number was 219, which was also a significant increase.
Every single JaS position recorded more cases last year than before - for four out of five social workers, 2021 was the busiest year to date.
Meixner names reasons for psychological problems - "Social cooperation" has long been gone
"The significant increase is certainly due to the pandemic," writes Meixner in his annual report.
So, he explained in the culture committee, "social interaction at the school has long since completely disappeared".
The employees list the consequences for the young people in the annual report: children with developmental problems, mental problems, problems in their social behavior, stress caused by family conflicts or problems of their parents took advantage of the offer.
Susanne Scheck, who works at the Waldram elementary school, reported that a striking number of children developed school anxiety.
This may be an after-effect of the lockdown: "The crowds in the playground, the many children in one room, dealing with their peers - many children had to get used to that again." For some children it took several weeks, sometimes even months, until they went back to regular classes.
When asked, Scheck explained that no new cases of school anxiety had recently occurred.
"We got a good handle on it at the elementary school." At the middle school, on the other hand, there are children who have not yet returned to school.
Young people from Wolfratshausen find people to talk to in the youth center and in the mobile youth center
There are also contact points for young people after school – above all the youth center La Vida on Josef-Bromberger-Weg and the mobile youth work.
This position has been filled again since April last year after a long vacancy.
Simon Friedt is the name of the street worker who visits the young residents of Wolfratshausen where they like to hang out, for example at the skate park, at the Lidl car park in Farchet or at the S-Bahn station.
As Friedt explained in the session, the boys and girls turn to him with different problems: "The core issue is often quarrels and problems in relationships," he said.
"Unfortunately, drug and alcohol consumption at a much too early age is often an issue." Although Friedt only started in April and initially had to establish relationships with the young people, by the end of the year 23 young people had sought his advice on individual cases.
KJFV boss says: "We are worried" - case numbers are exploding, waiting times in clinics are long
Meixner closed the annual report with an anxious look into the future: "We are very worried about our children and young people." The exploding number of cases in the association's offers are alarming.
“There are now waiting times of nine months at psychiatric clinics for young people” – that’s how great the need is.
Keeping up the offers of youth work has been a huge effort, especially in the past few years.
"There are now many exhausted educational institutions."
