Teaching skills for the prevention of violence as a mandatory component of teacher training

The working group “Prevention of Interpersonal Violence in Sports” at the Institute for Sports and Sports Science (IfSS), UNI:Sport, and the Sports Student Council at the University of Kassel expressly welcome one of the key recommendations of the First Report of the Independent Federal Commissioner Against Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (UBSKM): The federal states should make the subject area “Child Protection and Prevention of Sexualized Violence” a mandatory component of teacher training laws.

The report clearly identifies the gap: Child protection has not yet been comprehensively—and, above all, not mandatorily—incorporated into the undergraduate training of professions relevant to child protection. This also applies to teacher training. Whether prospective teachers are exposed to this topic often depends on the commitment of individual instructors or on elective courses. Continuing education programs can only compensate for this to a limited extent, as they take effect only after teachers begin their careers and do not reach everyone. Furthermore, according to a 2023 DJI survey, only one in six schools has a comprehensive protection plan. Teachers bear responsibility for protecting their students, but to do so, they need the necessary knowledge and confidence to act effectively already during their undergraduate studies.

Physical education requires special attention. Physical contact when assisting students, situations in locker rooms, performance evaluation, field trips, and close relationships of trust characterize physical education and club sports. It is precisely here that a reflective understanding of closeness and distance, power and dependency, and a confident approach to dealing with boundary violations is needed.

The Institute has already taken a stand. With the position paper on the prevention of interpersonal and sexualized violence, which the IfSS Executive Board adopted on April 29, 2026, the Institute is committed to a safe environment in research, teaching, and practice. The paper identifies raising awareness among future physical education teachers as a goal. It calls for addressing interpersonal and sexualized violence in teaching, as well as workshops, participatory risk analyses, and the conscious design of physical education content involving close physical contact. An institute-wide protection plan based on a risk and potential analysis is currently being developed. The report confirms this commitment and makes it clear that such approaches must not depend on individual locations or individual disciplines.

Hesse: The state government is currently preparing an amendment to the Hessian Teacher Training Act (HLbG). The planned explicit inclusion of child and youth protection in the HLbG is very welcome. In our view, implementation requires:

1. mandatory modules on child protection and the prevention of interpersonal and sexual violence in all teacher education programs,

2. a sports-specific specialization in physical education teacher training, and

3. the necessary personnel and financial resources at universities.

The report’s guiding principle also applies to us: The responsibility for protection lies with adults.

Click here for the report and the press release from the Independent Federal Commissioner Against Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (UBSKM).