We allow screen time at home, but our kids go to a tech-free school. They can use screens at home whenever they want but don't overindulge.
Courtesy Melissa Petro
As a parent of two kids, ages 4 and 6, it comes as no surprise to me that technology in the classroom is beginning to face a lot of heat. In less than five years, we watched the world go from "screens are bad, and shame on you for exposing your child to even a second of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood!" to an era where, by necessity, everybody worked remotely, and children as young as three were attending preschool in front of a Chromebook for six hours at a time.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think technology is "bad" — my husband and I both work in digital media, and we've proudly exposed our kids to screens since birth (we even bought our 6-year-old, Oscar, his own iPhone for Christmas!) But at our son's tech-free school, there isn't so much as a smart board — and that's just the way we like it.
Like all Waldorf Schools, my son's school, the Otto Specht School, emphasizes interaction with the natural world and with each other, and engaging in hands-on learning. Technology and screens aren't introduced until middle school, when students are taught lessons in cyber civics, as well as practical skills such as coding. Even at the high school level, the focus remains on working with natural materials and engaging in movement and art.
As a student in the early childhood program, Oscar spends a lot of his day outside, moving his body and exploring his environment. Learning comes from collaborating with classmates and solving the real-life problems that arise when putting on a puppet show, building a model out of beeswax, or baking bread and cutting vegetables to go into a soup served as that day's snack.
Courtesy Melissa Petro
Consider the creativity and critical thinking that comes with planting seeds, constructing forts, climbing trees, and caring for animals, and compare this to your typical digital curriculum, where content is delivered passively and learning requires little agency or initiative beyond hitting "play."
All this hands-on learning is particularly important for Oscar, a child with special needs. His main challenge is social anxiety, and he struggles to communicate when among peers or in unfamiliar settings. Some researchers caution that technology can perpetuate social anxiety, and say that more internet use is associated with a higher fear of face-to-face interactions. Social anxiety is best treated with exposure, and online communications lack nuanced social cues, meaning that kids like Oscar need face-to-face interactions— not occupational therapy delivered over Zoom.
Like most Waldorf schools, Otto Specht suggests limited media exposure at home. But in our house, our kids have free rein when it comes to screen time. Oscar can watch hours of Disney Plus, zone out to Instagram reels on the iPad, or play Minecraft to his heart's content.
Courtesy Melissa Petro
To me, the fact that he doesn't overindulge is an indication of a tech-free school's success. He's just as interested in digging a pond in the garden or putting together a puzzle as he is in movie night.
Some people argue that it's necessary to introduce kids to technology because it makes them "workplace-ready." But let's face it, the technology we insist our kids master and defend as integral to learning won't even exist by the time today's students enter the workforce.
In the meantime, let's let kids be kids.
