Youth protection

• Youth Protection Act (JuSchG)

Any person over the age of 18 who performs educational duties on a permanent or temporary basis on the basis of an agreement with the parents can be an educational officer.

The prerequisite for this is that a corresponding agreement has been made with the parents, which must be proven in case of doubt. It is advisable to have this in writing. The agreement should not only include accompaniment but also supervision.

Such an arrangement makes sense if, for example, siblings or friends of different ages want to attend an event together.

Further information:

• Diagram of youth protection regulations on the subject of alcohol

  ("Alcohol and Responsibility Working Group" of the BSI)

The following regulations apply to the protection of young people:

Alcoholic beverages:

• under 16 years:
  • The distribution (sale or serving) and consumption of alcoholic beverages is generally prohibited. An exception applies to beer, mixed drinks containing beer, sparkling wine, wine and mixed drinks containing wine if a person with custody is present and permits this.
• from 16 years:
  • The serving and consumption of beer, mixed drinks containing beer, sparkling wine, wine and mixed drinks containing wine are permitted.
  • The distribution and consumption of spirits and mixed drinks containing spirits are prohibited.
• from 18 years:
  • The serving and consumption of spirits and mixed drinks containing spirits as well as all other alcoholic beverages are permitted.

Smoking:

• under 18 years
  • Tobacco products may only be given to adults. Children and adolescents are not permitted to smoke in public.
  • The distribution, sale and passing on of tobacco products to children and adolescents is generally prohibited. The consumption of tobacco products may not be permitted to teenagers under the age of 18.

Media

• under 18 years
  • Children and young people may only watch films at public film events that are approved for their age (age rating).
  • Picture media that are not labelled or are labelled "Not for children and young persons" must not be
    • not be offered, given or otherwise made available to a child or young person,
    • not in off-premises retail, kiosks or other outlets that customers do not usually enter,
    • offered or provided by mail order.
• under 12 years
  • By way of derogation from this, attendance at films released for children and young people aged 12 and over may also be permitted for children and young people aged 6 and over if they are accompanied by a person with legal guardianship.

Evening events / disco

• Principle
  • How long children and adolescents can stay outside in the evening or whether they are allowed to stay overnight with friends is not regulated by law. This is decided by the parents.
  • Children and young people are generally prohibited from staying in night bars and gambling halls.
• under 16 years:
  • The stay in restaurants, at dance events and in discotheques is only permitted in the company of a person with parental authority (parent, guardian) or a person with parental authority (person over 18 years of age who has been entrusted by the parents with the accompaniment and supervision).
• from 16 years:
  • Until midnight, it is permitted to stay in restaurants, at dance events and in discotheques without being accompanied by a person authorised to have parental authority or a person with parental authority.
  • From 24:00 hrs onwards, visitors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.