Q. I have heard that Waldorf schools ban television watching. Why is this?

A. Many Waldorf schools have "media policies" under which parents agree to curtail their children's exposure to television, cell phones, the Internet, and other media or forms of electronic communication.

An argument can be made that today's kids spend far too much time staring at electronic screens — TVs, computers, etc. Shouldn't the kids instead be outdoors, running around, discovering nature, and participating in healthful activities?

Surely that would be good. But the picture isn't so simple. There is plenty of evidence that sensible exposure to electronic media and computers can actually contribute to a child's awareness of the wide world and serve valuable educational purposes.

The debate over such matters can be productive. To understand the Waldorf position, however, you need to look below the surface. Amazing as it may seem, the fundamental Waldorf objection to technological devices of all sorts is a fear of demons. Rudolf Steiner taught, and his followers believe, that technology provides the means for demons to incarnate on Earth. For more on this, see "Computers - Why Do Waldorfs De-emphasize Them?"

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WALDORF ANSWERS

THE BRIEF WALDORF / STEINER ENCYCLOPEDIA