German parents give their children more freedom because they also are given more responsibility. They go hand in hand.

German woman here. By the age of 13 I was allowed to travel to the next city (16 km away) by train with my friends. I'm now 31 so we didn't have smartphones but phones with us.

Trust your kids.they can handle it,especially if they are not afraid to tell you they broke a glass or something.

a society only works with trust.
trust other citizens. trust the teenagers.
teenagers who are not alone will have anxiety when they grow up.
trusting companies (like facebook) is a whole other thing. shouldnt.

When I was 16 I went to NZ for three months as exchange student. I remember my host mum telling me: "European parents are so brave. I would never send kids your age abroad for months!" 😅

I always tell my American friends & guests this: Having a drinking age at 21 and being awkward about alcohol around kids is probably the safest way to produce a lot of alcoholics and alcohol-abuse. Because then they see it differently when they are finally allowed to drink.  And having a beer around children might be something more normal in southern Germany (Franconia/Bavaria) than in the North. These things differ alot from region to region in Germany.
Our kids didn't get a phone before the age of ten, when they changed from elementary to gymnasium. Then they both were the last to get a smartphone in their classes in 7th grade. We didn't have a problem leaving them alone only after the older was 11 or 12.

My Mom was a single mother working until 6 pm. I came home made myself something to eat, made my homework and met after that my best friend until my mom came home. She had no choice and i think since german kids get raised being independent it isn't a big thing.

When I was in first grade (age 7) I was allowed to pick up my younger sister (age 5) from kindergarten when school was finished. Both our parents worked and we went home on our own. We were alone at home for about an hour until my mom or dad came home. Very normal in the early nineties especially in the eastern part of Germany where it was very normal that moms were working, mostly full time. Many mornings we left home after my mom bc work started at 7.30 am, school at 8 am. We also had a word for kids like us : „Schlüsselkinder“ which means children with keys.

I still vividly remember how grown up I felt whenever my parents went nine-pin bowling every other Saturday with their friends when I was about 12 (back in the late 90s -- early 00s), and left me in charge of the house and my younger brother. I usually whipped up something for us to eat (mostly fish sticks and smashed potatoes 😋) and had a grand old time watching Saturday evening TV together. These evenings usually lasted about 4-5 hours and I felt so proud of my parents' trust. Of course we took precautions like locking the door and making sure we would only pickup the phone when my parents' number was displayed etc. Good memories all around!

Edit for 10:25: I'm currently 33 and my partner & I are only just now thinking about potentially having a child. He's in the last stretch of finishing his medical studies and becoming a doctor while I've been working freelance for the past 6 years and being more or less the sole breadwinner for the two of us, so our financial situation definitely played into that. I guess the reason we haven't tried for a baby yet is that we both wanted a certain amount of financial security to actually be able to afford a child, especially now that everything's getting a lot more expensive. And of course Covid played a huge role as well; we didn't really fancy going through a potentially rough pregnancy amidst all the pandemic chaos.

This was a really interesting video! I grew up in Swiss german part of Switzerland. I started kindergarten at age 5. My (Canadian) mother walked me to and from the kindergarten for about 3 days. After that I was on my own to walk the approximate 20minute walk on my own, I had two very busy streets to cross, neither had street lights or crossing guards, something nonexistent there in the mid 1960s. I walked back and forth 4 times a day, as I went home for lunch. Ironically, the older I got, the shorted my walk to school, ending with my high school, 2 minutes down the road!
As for alcohol consumption, all my friends and I were given wine to taste at a very early age, a sip here or there. I feel, if you learn how to be around alcohol, it is not this huge forbidden thing! My mother even went so far as to insist (when I was 16 or 17), that I have some drinks at home. This way I knew, what my reaction to it would be and I would know not to drink a lot, when out with friends! When I moved over to Canada when I was in my very early 20s, I was shocked to see, how crazy the American college students were with alcohol, as the Canadian drinking age, I believe, at the time was 18!
Also, it was not unusual for me to be put on a train by my grandmother in one part of Switzerland after staying with her, and traveling alone for 2 hours on the train, to then be picked up by my mother in our town. I would have been around 8 or 9, when I did this the first time. The train conductor ( ticket collector) was made aware I was traveling on my own. I do not recall ever feeling unsafe or afraid!
I realize times have changed and I’m sad a lot of children can’t experience this kind of freedom or be given a lot of responsibility at an early age.

I wish it was legal in the Uk to leave your children alone at home earlier. It’s against the law until children are over 10 years old. I’d trust my 8 year old to be home alone for an hour and yes I grew up in Germany and it wasn’t a big deal.
Totally agree about not showing children on the internet, it’s their own choice if they want to have an online presence later.

I became mum with 36 only because I "met" my Kiwi husband when I was almost 32 and it took a while to build a home together with safe jobs. First we tried in new Zealand but after 1,5 years we moved to Germany for various reasons. Very individual, I'd say. Most mum's I know are younger than me.

Very interesting video. The difference between NZ and Germany's attitude towards alcohol probably warrants a whole video by itself. I live in NZ and am constantly worried about my young adult child and her friends and their drinking habits. I feel the binge drinking culture is not so prevalent in Germany because drinking alcohol in moderation is modelled by parents as you say and its normal to just have a couple of beers and not get trashed. I've just been to Germany and we visited a lot of people and restaurants and I did not see a single really drunk person.

Point 1 & 2: we not only give our children freedom and independence but we teach them responsibility (at least we try hard...).
Point 3: It's not only about privacy but also a lot about private data protection. Our private data belong to us and nobody else. We very much fear the abuse of these data
Point 4: Imho alcohol consumption has a lot to do with knowing your limits. To demonize alcohol does not reduce consumption. The earlier you learn about its criticality and its risks the better.
Point 5: you explained it.

Great video. Growing up in the US with German parents in NYC. I went from home to school and back  in first grade. Fortunately, never had a problem. There were lots of other kids nn the same situation, we would walk together.

I feel like education about social media and how to deal with it in terms of self image and resistance against its bad influence is a topic that is mostly ignored in the german school system. To restrict ecessive use of social media is just fighting symptoms. the kids need to get competence in handling this kind of thing mentally. Thid is not going away any time soon, on the contrary. Everything gets faster, more complex and more diffucult to cope with. I hope germany wakes up in this regard. Its our responsibility to teach the next generation how to handle whats coming.

I am always amazed when you remind us of  the age of each of your children. it makes me feel so old. I remember before Matteo was born watching you on YouTube. Tempest fugit.

At least from my perspective, I have to disagree with the smartphone topic. When I was 10 years old, I got my first smartphone (it was a Samsung Galaxy Ace) and also my nieces and nephews (4 of them in total) got their first smartphones when they were 8/9 years old. They have access to our family's WhatsApp group and are being taught how to responsibly use the internet. On the other hand, I haven't heard of these watches yet that are not connected to the internet and can be used to track your children. I think using these watches is contrary to motivating your children to be independent. Many parents trust their children, so there is just no need of giving them a watch in order to "track" them.
Maybe this is also a village/city thing. Maybe also a Bavarian thing?

I am German and I had my first child at the age of 26. My second at 28. I feel what you are saying. I always felt like a teenage mom around the other moms.

I really applaud you for choosing not to exploit your children online, and on your channel. A glimpse or story here and there is absolutely acceptable, but children deserve their privacy. On a platform where many children on family vlogs do not have a say in what is filmed, I respect that about you!