- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,686
- Points
- 113
A Cologne mother withdrew her daughter from a school trip to the local mosque after the latest wave of terror attacks across Germany, prompting the school to threaten her with a fine and exclusion from all future trips
A mother in Germany who decided to withdraw her 9-year-old daughter from a scheduled school trip to a mosque after the latest wave of terror attacks was reportedly threatened with a fine for violating compulsory schooling laws.
Jennifer H., from Cologne, opted to omit her daughter Hannah from a visit to the local Islamic place of worship after the recent attacks in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg.
In December, a Saudi national drove into a crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas market, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, while a month later an Afghan asylum seeker attacked a group of toddlers in a park in Aschaffenburg, stabbing a 2-year-old boy to death and a man who had sought to intervene in the attack.
The school trip to the mosque in Ehrenfeld was planned for Feb. 6, 2025 — a week before yet another Islamist terror attack saw a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker ram his vehicle into a labor union demonstration in Munich, injuring dozens
“Due to the events in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg, I told our school management that I am currently concerned with sending my child on a trip,” the 36-year-old mother told Express.de.
The school’s reaction was far from sympathetic. In response to Jennifer H.’s decision, the school administration issued a formal warning, stating that withdrawing Hannah from the excursion constituted a violation of compulsory schooling laws.
According to a letter cited by German media, the school emphasized its legal authority to impose a fine on the mother for deregistering her daughter from the trip.
“The non-participation of your child in the school event represents a violation of compulsory schooling, which I would actually have to punish according to your obligation from § 41 Paragraph 1 School Act for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (SchulG) with a penalty payment or a fine. I will exceptionally refrain from this,” the school’s letter stated.
Jennifer H. also noted that the school had warned her Hannah would be excluded from all future school trips, including the final trip of her primary school years. “I was immediately threatened with the fact that my daughter is not allowed to take part in any further excursions, as well as the final trip,” she said.
Despite this warning, Hannah did not participate in the mosque visit. Instead, she was placed in a different class for the day.
In response to the school’s stance, Jennifer H. has sought legal counsel. She contests the claim that she had agreed to a complete withdrawal from all future excursions, emphasizing that her decision was based on the uncertain security situation in Germany in recent weeks.
“Rather, I said that I don’t know whether the situation in Germany will calm down or how I will feel in five months,” she explained.
