A lot goes into making a decision about school. As parents today consider what is best for their children’s holistic formation, many important questions rise to the surface: what is the focus of the academic program? Is time invested in character development and virtue? Can my student achieve excellence while still having a life outside of school? How easy is it to make friends? Do we, the parents, retain parental authority over our student’s experience? As the staff person who guides prospective families through school tours, a newer, more frequent question has surpassed most others in urgency and value: how much will my child be on a computer?
What motivates this question? Parents are concerned more than ever about the decline they see in their child’s levels of curiosity, creativity, and, most concernedly, attention. Reports of narrowing attention spans, regression in behavior, and an inability to meaningfully interact or enjoy play with other children unless it involves some element of an electronic game or device are extremely common. The rejection of simple childhood pleasures – reading, bike riding, playing board games, or crafting – along with the demand for parents to facilitate and manage what used to be spontaneous and independent play, has left many parents apprehensive about exposing their children to even more screen time at school. I don’t blame them.
Learning is a relational activity! Education in a classical environment centers enduring ideas, consequential histories, important literature, momentous discoveries, and beautiful works of art and music. It is enjoyed in community and as a communal, conversational endeavor. Classical education is beautifully human and harnesses the mind and senses in a meaningful way. Students experience their teacher and peers interacting in real time. Learning to listen thoughtfully and ask clarifying questions cannot be accomplished in a digital context. Real books, rather than electronic versions, provide students with the tactile engagement that is an essential part of the reading experience, without the myriad distractions that come with a device. Explorations in grammar, math, science, and history are engaging and compelling, making gamification and edutainment irrelevant and unnecessary.
What about real world readiness? Sector-specific job skills are best learned in the context of their use. Is it wise to ignore the important stages of child development that unfold in a traditional classroom and silo children into individual educational experiences so that they will be job-ready in adulthood? Highly perishable computer proficiencies can never take the place of crucial relational and formative skills. I can teach any twenty-year old how to use a computer program, and in a short period of time. How much harder is it to recover attention, restore imagination, and rebuild the intellectual and moral appetite for true, good, and beautiful things?
If you find yourself considering educational options and experiencing hesitation around high tech use in classrooms, you are not alone. Keep looking until you find something worthy of your children. Something beautifully human.
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