But it makes sense to introduce children and young people to the right tools at the right age. A sweeping brush is a tool, as is a spade. These tools require physical movement, willpower, rhythm and coordination, and so this level technology is appropriate for children to use in the kindergarten. While screens—such as tablet computers and mobile phones—are also useful tools, we see them as less appropriate for younger children because they do not add value to their experiences and outcomes. Digital technology is also mostly absent from our Lower School classrooms. This is not because Steiner schools have an objection in principle, but because learning is richer and deeper when the teacher can bring the subject matter alive through their creativity: by telling stories (not reading them out from the page); by drawing pictures (not pointing to them on a screen); and by making their own resources (not ordering them from a website).  

For younger children, this scree-free approach builds a much stronger bond between teacher and pupils. A screen is a passive medium, whereas young children learn by reflecting—or imitating—the social world. Positive reinforcement of habits and human emotions requires an appropriate sequence of actions and the screen does not respond in the same way as a human being.

As young people reach adolescence, they begin to develop the critical faculties necessary to manage screen time. This is when we begin to introduce computers—but only when they add value to the learning experience, and only when pupils have the discernment to identify the screen—and what is on the screen—as a tool