Intoxication, Experience, Addiction

This issue of our magazine focuses on addiction and dependency. Addiction doesn’t necessarily begin where we adults might first suspect it. Not every instance of intoxication, not every bout of intense video-gaming, and not every conspicuous preoccupation with food constitutes an addiction. But when a substance or behavior increasingly dominates a person’s life, supplants joy and relationships, and restricts freedom, parents and teachers need to take notice. The articles in this issue show how differently addictive disorders can manifest: as alcohol and drug use, excessive gaming, problematic media use, or eating disorders. What they all have in common is that accusations and hasty judgments don’t help. Young people need us adults. We must look closely, listen, and have the courage to ask difficult questions: What are you missing? What are you looking for? And what can we do?

Incidentally, the words «addiction» (in German «Sucht») and «search» (in German «Suche») are not etymologically related; «addiction» comes from «Siechen,» the old word for being sick. Our articles make it particularly clear how important it is to act early on. Anorexia is life-threatening. Other addictions can also cause lasting damage to the body, mind, and relationships. At the same time, the focus is on resilience and prevention. Secure relationships, self-esteem, frustration tolerance, free play, physical activity, and meaningful tasks strengthen everyone—children, adolescents, and adults. Schools can create spaces where students experience boundaries, fail, start over, and form connections. Perhaps this is the most important form of protection: supporting children and adolescents so that they experience themselves and life as resilient.

We also have other wonderful and important articles in this issue: Sociologist Hartmut Rosa visited the Emmendingen Waldorf school and spoke with students there. An IT manager—a former Waldorf student and now a Waldorf parent—spoke with me about AI and how it can benefit Waldorf education. Our author Franz Glaw uses the latest PISA study as an opportunity to advocate for greater information literacy in the classroom. Dagmar von Falkenburg is a religion teacher in Hamburg and describes what religious education looks like there in a multicultural society. And for the past 20 years, the Friends of Waldorf have been organizing programs that enable young people from all over the world to complete a year of social service at Waldorf institutions.

Have fun browsing and exploring!