Sarah Kennedy-Berge M.Ed. 

College Director at WATERPARK MONTESSORI INTERNATIONAL 

January 24, 2025 

Technology is not inherently bad. In fact, it’s a testament to human ingenuity, creativity, and innovation. AI is impartial in itself. It is neutral like money is neutral.  

The discussion should not be on the dangers of technology. 

The discussion should be on the human intent, on ethical and responsible use, on moral and social norms (or what perhaps used to be norms). 

Top of mind in politics and education is technology and the dangers various platforms or artificial intelligence present. 

What we do with that technology is the questionable aspect. It has the power to be used to make the world better or destroy it completely. 

Montessori discussed this, writing about innovation and machines in From Childhood to Adolescence. However, she warned us to beware of the man of ill-will. If human vices of greed and ego, power and apathy take influence, then it can be used for destruction. 

“The machine is like an extra adaptable limb of modern man; it is the slave of civilisation. But beware, for the man of ill-will may be rendered dangerous by machinery; his influence may become unlimited as the speed of communication increases. Therefore a new morality, individual and social, must be our chief consideration in this new world.”  

Let us join the discussion on ethical and responsible use of technology with our children and with ourselves! We must model this! We cannot expect our children to use technology in a constructive way when we ourselves are glued to our screens or involved in slap-fights on social media. 

I address this further in my book, Montessori in the Digital Age, and include a little excerpt here: 

We have a critical task of guiding our children in their social and moral development, and the use of technology is no exception from this aspect. We know how much access our students have to technology in all facets of their lives. It is our awesome task to teach them responsibility. Responsibility for how to use technology, how to handle these tools, to make them conscious of the dangers, to encourage social and moral awareness in their use of technology. The consequences of misusing technology can be so severe that this is an incredibly serious obligation for those of us working with children, inside and outside the classroom. However, we have a unique possibility in our classroom, within a safe and positive environment, to create awareness around the issues, to promote critical thinking and reflection on the use of technology, to reinforce the idea that my actions affect others. Just as we work with our students to understand their role in society with other issues, such as environmental awareness, we must also work to promote safe and constructive use of technology. This is inherent in our role as a Montessori educator and guide, and will have long-reaching implications in the lives of our students and in shaping our society in the future. 

It’s up to us! Let’s use the wonderful technological innovations to construct a better society, to improve the welfare of all mankind, not just the few elites. Let’s prove ourselves worth of the responsibility we have been given!