Our Mindful Media Policy

(Linked Resources at bottom of page)

A core value of this community is to provide a media free lifestyle for our children to promote physical and emotional well-being. We are asking you to support this goal by reducing or eliminating access to media in your home. We understand why many families have chosen to incorporate screen time into their family's routine—including that it's fun! We're here to work through this together, to support each other to create an intentional community that holds space for ourselves and our children to develop relationships and skills that are not technology dependent.

Why are we doing this? How does it relate to Waldorf Education?

Waldorf education strives to nurture and protect the development of the imagination, which is the vehicle for learning and growth. Waldorf education strongly discourages your children from screen time and all media, including television viewing, using video games, watching videos, and using computers, tablets, and hand-held devices. This type of media contains images and interactions that affect children deeply, and they carry these images and gestures into their play and social interactions with other children. Research has shown that watching television, video games and using hand held devices shortens children’s attention spans and reduces their powers of imagination.

At Tidewater Waldorf we want to…

  • Create an intentional community for our children to engage with each other in real life, a reprieve from the constant demands of being connected to a screen

  • Learn to simply BE without constant entertainment, answers and all of the world’s information at our fingertips

  • Allow ourselves to experience boredom, to figure out what comes next without any guidance, to make do with what we have, to look around and experience what is around us

  • Have peers to rely on and support our families so when our kids say “Emily has a phone, why can’t I have one!” then you can confidently say “Well, Tori doesn’t!”

What benefits will my family see with reduced screen time?

Screen time may feel like a restful break for our children, however, it is stimulating and has the opposite effect on their nervous system. Children do not have sensory filters until the age of 8 or 9, so when they experience an enormous sensory input it can make them extremely tired or overactive.

Limiting screen time for children can have many benefits, including:

  • Mental health: Better sleep habits, lower risk of anxiety and depression, and improved mood

  • Cognitive development: Better focus and brain function, improved problem-solving abilities, and longer attention spans

  • Social skills: Increased opportunities for social interactions, making social connections, and building community

  • Creativity: Development of creative skills, hobbies less likely to be stifled by screens Academics: Increased academic success and allows natural curiosity to bloom

  • Behavioral skills: Less likely to be exposed to age-inappropriate content online and less likely to be exposed to violence and aggression

  • Physical health: Improved eyesight, strong muscles and bones, core strength and overall improved physical health

  • Family time: More opportunities for families to spend quality time together

What does it look like to live with minimal or no screen time at home?

Living with minimal or no screen time means a lifestyle in which all members of the family are engaged together for all parts of the daily rhythm and activities. Children will play independently, experience boredom, and find ways to entertain themselves without the guidance or supervision of their parents. Children’s brains are wired to play and entertain themselves!

In a low media home, screen time is not part of the daily rhythm. It is not used as an incentive or a reward for behavior or a distraction for children while the parents complete tasks such as cooking, cleaning, driving, etc. Although these tasks can feel easier without children around, incorporating children in the work of the home they will learn to be helpful members of the family.

Families spend more time focused on reading, puzzles, crafts, physical activities, cooking, cleaning, playing outside. A favorite aspect often reported by families with minimal screen time is long dinners spent together around the table chatting, playing, and enjoying time together.

Testimonial from a real family at Tidewater Waldorf:

After a year at Tidewater Waldorf, a parent came to Ms. Emily and told her that she had ripped all the televisions off the walls and stopped letting her children watch television cold turkey after reading about Waldorf education and the reasons for a media free childhood. This parent started crying describing how impactful it was on her family. She felt it had changed her entire family dynamic and she enjoyed her children so much more.

Are other people doing this, or just you weirdos?