There’s a lot of chatter in the media about media these days – and for good reason. The long term effects of media exposure on children is only just coming into the forefront as researchers begin to see results of studies on the first cohorts of “digital natives” – kids growing up in an age of unprecedented access to information.
The results are chilling. From childhood obesity on the rise due to reduced physical activity, to Fortnite disrupting family dynamics; from online bullying to unregulated internet content—navigating the digital world is still uncharted territory in many ways.
And, if it’s a complicated topic for adults, imagine what it’s like for young brains: brains that are highly susceptible to images and sounds — brains that have not yet developed the capacity to discern imagination from reality.
That’s why SWS has developed a comprehensive media policy. We consider this policy a contract between the school, children, parents and caregivers. Following the media policy will allow us all to nurture our children’s capacity for imagination, healthy emotional development, positive action and independent thinking to the fullest.
It is our goal that children be media-free until age nine. Additionally, children aged 10+ should be appropriately limited in their exposure to media (television, videos, movies, games, computers, internet, cell phones, social media and emails) during the school week. Parents have a responsibility to monitor content – restricting scenes of explicit violence, sexualized or adult content, and genres that may overstimulate the nervous system or impact sleep patterns, such as horror. Watch along with your adolescent or pre-teen to enjoy the experience as a family, see how the content impacts them and discuss any questions.
We appreciate your co-operation and are committed to assisting families in every way possible to achieving this goal. Please review our updated policy. We’ve also put together a helpful hints page outlining “7 Easy Ways to Unplug and Connect”.
You can also find a number of related articles on our “Waldorf in the News” page under the title, “News Articles”. Unplug and discover the joy of missing out on the digital world. The real world is so much better!