In Germany, approximately two million students experience a parent suffering from a mental disorder over the course of a year. In every second classroom, there is a child whose parent is receiving outpatient psychiatric treatment, and in about every third classroom, a student is confronted with a parent's inpatient psychiatric stay. This is a reality for children that is associated with the taboo surrounding parental illness, processes of parentification, and a normalization of family life. Additionally, there are school-related stressors that are difficult to manage. How should teachers handle this? How can they establish a trusting relationship with the children and support both them and their ill parents? How can teachers become figures of support to whom children can turn in times of stress and need for help?.