Inside A Tech-Free School Where Tech Executives Send Their Kids

In most public and private schools across the nation, Chromebooks iPads or Windows devices are everywhere., But things look very different at the private Sacramento Waldorf School in California, where technology isn & # 39 t used at all through eighth grade and is scarce even in high school.. Instead of just turning to my phone to answer a question to ask a teacher for help or to ask a friend., I just never really knew what it was like to play. Video games as opposed to running around and having fun outside.. We don & # 39 t have many screens here, but I can still use a screen really well. You, don & # 39 t have to be on the screen all the time to know how to use it well.. So I would whip stitch this on.. I find that, even in my own experience in my own life that when I & # 39 m using a device, it divides me from those who are around me.. So I find that the community experience of being in a classroom without those devices that comes only from one-on-one human interaction. And the screen tends to divide that. Good morning. Morning., Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. try this out teaching philosophy is used at more than 1,000 institutions. In 91 countries, including 136 schools here in the U.S., The screen policy differs at each Waldorf School, but it & # 39 s, known for its holistic instructional style, which promotes artistic expression, experiential learning and yes, limited technology use. For students at the Sacramento Waldorf School screen. Time is highly discouraged at home. Too.. The lower-school parent handbook recommends no media at home through fifth grade and limited access, accompanied by clearly defined family policies and monitoring for older children. Stating none is the optimal condition for young children and less is better than more in high school. Computer use at Sacramento. Waldorf School is restricted to just six desktops in one small lab and 20 MacBook Air laptops used in just a few classes. Mobile devices can be brought by high schoolers, who all sign a pledge to limit use to outside the classroom. Only. Tech in schools is big business expected to hit $ 43 billion this year, with 46 percent of that growth happening in K through 12., So Apple, Google and Microsoft may not be thrilled to know. The Waldorf approach represents a growing trend in Silicon Valley, where low-tech education is becoming increasingly popular among parents who are apprehensive of the devices they themselves helped to invent.. The private Waldorf School of the Peninsula, which has campuses in Los Altos in Mountain View, is highly sought. After. Three quarters of the student & # 39 s; parents there have a strong, high-tech connection.. In fact, many big names in tech like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, gained notoriety for the strict bounds they placed on device usage in their homes. Gates. Reportedly didn & # 39 t, let his kids get phones until age 14 and Jobs. Didn & # 39 t, let his kids use iPads.. The tuition at Waldorf. Schools varies by grade and location. High school tuition at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula is more than $ 35,000. And elementary school starts just under $ 26,000. In Sacramento. High school is over $ 19,000 and elementary starts just under $ 13,000.. There is an interesting thing that & # 39 s happening and that it & # 39 s, become a real sign of kind of status and privilege to be tech. Free. Children from low income families spend about three more hours on average on screens per day.. So we & # 39 re, seeing that kind of differentiation where it & # 39 s, not about the access to the device. But it & # 39 s, really about making sure that children from all kinds of households have access to positive opportunities and experiences in online spaces. For families that can afford to send their kids to Waldorf Schools. It & # 39 s likely that they do have the resources to craft a responsible media environment for their kids at home.. If you & # 39 re lucky enough to be born into a family with that kind of privilege and resources, you & # 39 re gon na have a lot of different learning opportunities.. So I don & # 39 t think that we can condemn one type of teaching practice over another.. It & # 39 s really about the mix of learning experiences that we create for our kids and we know within privileged families. Those learning experiences are deep and vast and constantly coming in. By the time they & # 39 re seniors. I don & # 39 t. Think there & # 39 s, anything different from other kids, necessarily other than they & # 39 ve, maybe had a little more of a balance. At the Sacramento Waldorf School students in the lower grades, aren & # 39 t taught any computational skills at all.. Instead, they learn through tactile. Immersion handwork is a subject that is only in really Waldorf Schools., So all of our children learn how to sew and knit and crochet, and when they come through my class, they know how to fix a button.. They know how to fix a tear in their clothing. Right now after I leave you, I & # 39 ll, be taking them out on our hike day, and so the children have been able to watch how the landscape changes and what animals are there during different Seasons and what plants are there and you can & # 39 t, get that same experience from watching that on the screen. Students here also learn how to grow their own food care for animals on the school & # 39 s, farm paint and garden.. We have a full working farm on campus and from second to 10th grade. They come out twice a week and have gardening class with myself.. But some of our favorite friends are Atticus the llama and Paddy the cow, and we have a whole bunch of chickens and a few ducks and a small flock of sheep. Students are used to working with their hands inside the classroom as well.. Most of their assignments are handwritten.. This type of hands-on practical education appeals to a lot of parents broadly concerned about the growing influence of tech in everyday life.. They & # 39 re, raising some of the first kids to grow up with access to smartphones tablets and social media., And many educators and academics alike have begun to raise the alarm.. One of the things that the research makes clear is that there is a huge impact of cell phones and social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat and other platforms on kids brains and on their social and emotional development.. There & # 39 s, also links to addictive compulsive behavior to attention, distraction issues and many other concerns. Teen, depression, anxiety and suicide are also on the rise at the generational level. Studies show that kids today spend less time hanging out with their friends than they used. To. Some recent studies have linked these concerning statistics with smartphone use, so it & # 39 s. No wonder parents and even kids themselves are worried.. Well, I have a few friends of mine who went to law school and then I know they go to public school.. I know they spend their entire day pretty much on a screen.. I hang out with them and they & # 39 ll. Just be like this all the time.. We go to social meetings whatever, and everyone is just beep beep beep. They wouldn & # 39 t talk.. How are you.? Oh good., They wouldn & # 39 t, have a complete conversation. Portillo says his classmates at Waldorf aren & # 39 t like that., Even though high schoolers like him, are allowed to use their phones during breaks. After being raised with Waldorf & # 39 s policies. Many of his peers are also on board with the low-tech approach.. When you don & # 39 t have a phone, you kind of are forced to be social with people. You & # 39 re, forced to go out and have new conversations with people and meeting people. And that & # 39 s, a really valuable skill to know how to do in an environment where computers are with you all the time when your phone is there. In every class., You tend to turn to your phone or your device instead of to a teacher or a friend., And so you, don & # 39 t, build those skills, those social skills. You also don & # 39 t, learn to ask for help when you need it.. While few would dispute the benefits of real world interactions and experiential education. Odgers does take issue with the popular narrative that an uptick in tech usage is making kids more anxious and less social.. We & # 39 re, seeing a lot of panic among parents and teachers and that panic is coming from a very good place.. We all want the best for our kids, but the evidence is very consistent at this point. We & # 39 re, not seeing these large effects or large associations between screen time and digital engagement and decreases in well-being or lower well-being.. It & # 39 s. Simply not there in the way that common perceptions in the media are common beliefs that we hear just talking amongst ourselves would lead us to believe., While rates of smartphone adoption and teen depression have increased in tandem. These studies can only prove correlation, not causation.. That correlation often disappears if you control for other factors in our lives. Digital device used in excess, might be a signal or a marker, of something that might be going awry off line.. Basically, she says it & # 39 s more likely that unhappiness is leading to unhealthy device usage rather than the other way around.. So when analyzing Waldorf tech policies, Odgers says the most important thing to consider is how devices are being used, not necessarily how often.. For me, it & # 39 s, a question of how can it? How can we use these as tools.? They & # 39 re great tools so that we & # 39 re, not tools of our tools. But how can we own them as opposed to their owning us. And school staff, say their students are not deterred from pursuing careers in technical fields. Out of each graduating class of about 40 students, 35 percent choose science or math as a major.. The last few years we & # 39 ve, definitely seen an uprising and STEM majors, so a lot of students are going into premed or computer science.. So, given the choice between a modern classroom, full of screens and education, apps or a nature, oriented back-to-the basics experience, there may not be a right answer.. The real magic happens when we can leverage the good parts of technologies with the great parts of what good teachers and good parents and good invested adults can do to really allow children at all stages of development and learning to reach their optimal potential.. That & # 39 s, not really whether you shut tech offer you to keep it on.. The question is really how you scaffold learning using technology when it & # 39 s appropriate with the right supports.