Encouraging Age-Appropriate Media Usage:
Parents who enroll their children into the Early Years programs at the Whistler Waldorf School are encouraged to give the gift of a media-free childhood. Consistent with Waldorf education’s emphasis on learning through direct experience, parents of children in the lower grades (1-4) are encouraged to foster and support the development of new ideas and attitudes based on real personal interactions, by eliminating media use during the school week, and minimizing it on weekends.
During Grades 5, 6, and 7, it is appropriate for students to have a gradual and guided introduction to the applications and use of electronic media. During these transition years, use and exposure to media should be very moderate, under clear parental guidance and participation, and work towards the social and educational climate of the class. Media exposure can be a socially divisive influence in these years so care and attention must be brought in guiding the use of media during these years.
Our media exposure guidelines in the High School recognize that it is appropriate for 15-19-year-olds to learn to critically approach and effectively use media. The school recognizes the importance of media literacy, including educating students to understand the technological principles underlying (and the social transformations resulting from) electronic media, and seeks to meet this need through a curriculum that includes research skills, the science behind new technologies, and the social consequences of the ongoing media revolution. However, because excessive use of electronic media undermines teenagers’ living relationships to other people, the world around them, and themselves, parents should continue to monitor and limit their teenagers’ exposure to electronic media and maintain an open dialogue with their teenage children about the role of media in their lives. Parents can monitor and limit student exposure to media by locating computers and video games in open areas of the home, and by maintaining a space of media-free quiet for the challenging and creative schoolwork of the High School, particularly during the school week.