Science teacher, Jacob Gerber, described how his 11th and 12thgrade students were able to use a software designed for analyzing tissue samples for pathology testing, to instead calculate bacteria coverage on petri dishes to study cleanliness of bathrooms around NYC. They showed minor differences in bacteria presence between men’s and women’s bathrooms and between locations by using this technology creatively and effectively. The ingenuity and initiative needed to facilitate this project is impressive and demonstrates the ability of the students to use their own faculties to put technology to work for them, rather than the other way around.
Coincidentally, social psychologist and author, Jonathan Haidt, published his new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, just days before our presentation. In an interview in Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper on April 6, 2024, he summarizes his book in the following way:
“So the basic thesis of the book is that we have over protected our children in the real world where they need a lot of play and independence and exposure learning. And we’ve been under protecting them online, which is this bizarre new world full of weird people and people who want to meet children. So we’ve got to fi x both of those mistakes. What I propose is four norms that we can all adopt, they’re hard to adopt if you’re acting on your own, but they’re actually easy if we do it together.
Norm number one: No smartphone before high school. Just give your kid a fl ip phone. Do not give them their own smartphone to have with them all the time until they’re in high school.Two: No social media until 16. This is a little harder, but if most of us do it, then our kids can’t say, “But dad, I’m the only one who doesn’t have Instagram.” They can’t say that because we’ll know it’s not true. Most kids won’t have Instagram until they’re 16.
The third norm is phone free schools. This is probably the most powerful one that we can do this year. We can get this done this year. Anybody watching this: If your kids go to a school where they say, “Oh, you know, we lock up phones during class.” That’s nothing. The kids are using the phone during class. They have to lock up the phone in a phone locker in the morning.
And the fourth norm is far more independence, free-play and responsibility in the real world. Because if we’re going to reduce their screen time by 80%, we have to give them back a normal childhood where they’re playing with other kids or teenagers hanging out with other teens. They need people.
So those are the four norms, we can do them if we act together.”
At Steiner, these are our norms and have been for a very long time. It is wonderful to see validation in pockets outside of our doors, even as the social pressure to embrace early-introduction to digital technology strengthens. We know the value of self-initiated play and the development of real-world, practical skills beyond simply the skill itself, but for the human capacities fostered in neurological and physiological development, an ability to think freely and independently, creative problem-solving that will be needed in the future, and the initiative necessary for pursuing their endeavors.
When refl ecting on our evening together, parents expressed gratitude for our education and our community. We were all impressed by the deep wisdom of our curriculum and teachers, and by the skillful digital literacy in the 11th and 12th grades that comes from building a strong foundation in the early years of a human-centered education.
