Bundeswehr in schools

The Bundeswehr requires around 20,000 new recruits annually. To reach this number, recruitment efforts are being significantly expanded, and minors are being recruited as soldiers every year: In 2024, there were 2,203 17-year-olds, including 321 girls, a further increase of 10 percent over the previous year and a new record. These young men receive the same military training as adult soldiers and are often deployed on overseas missions shortly after reaching adulthood. In the last ten years, the Bundeswehr has recruited more than 22,000 minors as soldiers.

 

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, the Children's Commission of the German Bundestag and an SPD position paper demanding this from the Federal Government, as are other states such as Sweden in the UN Human Rights Council.

The international Straight 18 standard is adhered to by over 150 countries worldwide, including the vast majority of NATO and EU countries.

In February 2025, we presented more than 32,000 signatures to Federal Defense Minister Pistorius and recently wrote another letter to him, together with the campaign " Never Under 18! No Minors in the Bundeswehr ," ten organizations from the trade union, church, human rights, and peace sectors, which together have more than 300,000 members. The presentation is shown in the video.

The Minister told us in a personal conversation that he fundamentally shares our criticism of the recruitment of underage soldiers. But these words must urgently be followed by action!

Every year, 17-year-old soldiers in the German Armed Forces commit serious violations of children's rights - serious violations of the obligations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (including protection from violence, protection from sexual violence, right to life, protection from hazardous child labor), which applies to all those under 18, and of Convention 182 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) (ending the worst forms of child labor).

National laws are also being violated: Legal protections for minors no longer apply. The girls and boys are housed together with adult soldiers, they work the same hours, and there are no special protective measures against bullying or assault – even though, according to a Bundeswehr study, more than half of all female soldiers in the Bundeswehr have been sexually harassed, and about one in thirty victim of sexual abuse (Source: Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences, 2014).

the Ministry of Defense, in 2023 alone, 15 underage soldiers were victims of sexual violence, 35 suffered accidents, and many more experienced mental disorders and trauma – and these are only the statistically recorded cases; the number of unreported cases is likely many times higher. A total of 385 "crimes against sexual self-determination or other forms of sexual harassment" were reported this year. Unfortunately, the Bundeswehr continues not to publish how many of those affected were underage, despite long-standing requests for this.

From 2018 to 2020, at least 17 underage soldiers were affected by sexual violence in the Bundeswehr; in five of these cases, the suspicion was directed against superiors. Many soldiers also suffer severe psychological damage: Over a fifth of all soldiers not deployed abroad suffer from mental illness, and in the three years from 2018 to 2020 alone, the Bundeswehr recorded 167 suicide attempts and 50 completed suicides – including one underage soldier (source: Ministry of Defense response to an inquiry from Bundestag member Frank Heinrich ).

Violent behavior in groups, including so-called initiation rituals and often sexualized violence, is not an isolated incident in the Bundeswehr; it occurs repeatedly. Underage soldiers are also affected, as was the case a few years ago in the scandal surrounding sexualized initiation rituals at a barracks in Pfullendorf , where an internal report identified "serious deficiencies in leadership, training, and supervision."

The Bundeswehr is increasingly targeting children and young people in a targeted and one-sided way: Bundeswehr youth officers and career counselors reach several hundred thousand students in schools each year, including children as young as eleven. Many more girls and boys are reached at trade fairs , barracks visits , and adventure events .

also trying to recruit new recruits through youth media and social media . Many young people are lured by good salaries, permanent jobs, free college education, and other Bundeswehr benefits. Risks such as trauma, death, or injury are either not mentioned at all or only in passing in school presentations, commercials, and Bundeswehr materials. YouTube series and promotional campaigns such as the "Bundeswehr Discovery Days" or "Girl's Day" events instead emphasize adventure, fun, sports, and teamwork ; real operational images and information are often completely missing.

The Bundeswehr is investing more and more heavily in recruiting new recruits . The costs of doing so have increased more than tenfold since 2011, from €3.8 million to €57 million.

The study "Why 18 matters – an analysis of the recruitment of children", which Terre des Hommes published together with Child Soldiers International and other organizations, also deals with the recruitment of underage soldiers for the Bundeswehr. .

The decision to invite soldiers to class rests solely with the school. Students, parents, and teachers can speak out against this in teacher and school conferences and through student and parent councils. The "Model Guidelines for Schools" from terre des hommes . Parents can also request substitute classes for their children if Bundeswehr soldiers attend .

Discussion events in which soldiers, peace educators, child rights activists, or other experts engage in controversial debates with older students can be beneficial —because students also have a right to information. However, the events must be voluntary for the students and open to parents and other interested parties. Further strict standards to protect young people from biased military advertising must be observed. Terre des Hommes has model guidelines for schools .

Become active and sit down with the campaign »under 18 NEVER! No minors in the Bundeswehr “for an end to Bundeswehr recruitment and advertising in minors!