Why We Protect Childhood at New Village School
Aug 21, 2026 | by Greg Price, Board Member and Co-Founder
When Meinir Davies and a dozen fourth-grade parents started the New Village School in my living room in December 2008, the iPhone was young, and MySpace was larger than Facebook. From the start, we worked as a community of parents to limit media exposure and preserve childhood.
As technology and social media advanced, so did the boundaries we set, but the intention remained the same: childhood is not merely a waiting room for adulthood. It is a crucial developmental stage that deserves its own integrity and protection.
The pressure to introduce screens earlier and earlier is significant, and it is much easier to withstand together. That is part of why we built a village: to support families through these choices.
This is not about rejecting technology or shielding children from the world. It is about giving children the experiences they need at the time they need them.
For young children, play is their work. As they grow, they take on real responsibilities and contribute to family and school life: getting themselves dressed, cleaning up, helping with chores, caring for their surroundings, and learning to do things for themselves. These seemingly simple acts build the individual muscles needed for a healthy and capable life.
At New Village, children work with their hands and bodies. They make things. They have adventures. They create, imagine, solve problems, think critically, play outside, and, importantly, are allowed to be bored. Every NVS graduate does just fine in the modern world. We are intentional about making sure childhood thrives here.
Over the years, I've read a great deal of research on how early and heavy use of social media and screens can affect children's attention, mood, sleep, and self-esteem. I've also been struck by how many of the people closest to the technology industry have chosen significant boundaries around technology for their own children. Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Sundar Pichai have all spoken publicly about limits on phones, social media, or screen time in their homes.
A recent New York Times article explores this very question: When Tech's Biggest Fans Say No to Their Kids.
Our first day of the new school year was last week. It was a joyous day of newness and community, crisp new clothes, a shiny school, and even shinier faces. Watching the children return reminded me what we are protecting.
As we begin another year, we are fortunate to be part of a community that has been thinking about these questions and pressures from the start. If you are ever navigating a decision about a phone, an app, a movie, a game, or a device, please reach out to an NVS teacher or a parent of older children.
None of us needs to figure this out alone. That's one of the reasons we have a village.
Thank you for being part of it.