by Ralph Studer,* Switzerland
(7 February 2025) “School education and pedagogical thinking are in crisis,” says Jochen Krautz, Professor of Art Education at the University of Wuppertal. What Krautz is talking about here is now a widespread consensus. There is a need for a return to fundamental principles. And good education would not be that difficult after all ...
by Norbert Häring*
(24 January 2025) (CH-S) In Germany, the “addiction” to censor public opinion is still gathering pace, whereas in Switzerland, thank God, it has not been as strong so far. Although there are forces here that want to emulate Germany and the EU in this respect – keyword “Digital Services Act” – they have been somewhat curbed so far. Elon Musk – whatever one may think of him – has already created a strong headwind and stirred up the censorship miasma. However, the trend towards opinion restriction is continuing in Germany, as Norbert Häring shows using the example of public libraries.
by Michael Felten,* Germany
(24 January 2025) (CH-S) At the beginning of the new year, the author held a lecture at a “Swiss Standpoint” event on this hotly debated topic, which is also being discussed in our schools and universities. He summarises the essential points for us.
by William J. Astore,* USA
(17 January 2025) (CH-S) The author warns emphatically against underestimating the power of nuclear weapons and calls for an end to their construction. The catastrophic damage caused by the fires in Los Angeles is only a fraction of what would be caused using a nuclear weapon. – This is all too quickly suppressed.
by Norbert Häring*
(9 January 2025) The author clearly identifies the dangers that have proven to be unavoidable in Germany with the forced digitisation of highly sensitive patient data. The Swiss equivalent of the German “electronic patient record” (ePR), the “electronic patient dossier” (EPD), was based on the principle of “double voluntariness” in 2017: both the patient and the outpatient practitioner were free to open or maintain an EPD. It has been in place in inpatient facilities since 2020. The Swiss national parliament is now discussing whether to make it mandatory for all outpatient healthcare facilities. However, patients are still free to open an EPD – or not.
by Marita Brune-Koch
(9 January 2025) Kindergartens offer rooms for children to masturbate undisturbed. Such reports keep appearing in the press. The kindergartens did not come up with such methods of early sexualisation themselves. Rather, they are based on the WHO guidelines “Standards for Health Education in Europe”. According to these, parents and teachers should be encouraged to explore sexuality with children “from birth”.