On May 2-8, children, families, and communities around the world can re-discover the joys of life beyond the screen. By unplugging from digital entertainment and spending your free time playing, reading, daydreaming, creating, exploring, and connecting with family and friends a whole new world can open up for you.
Screen-free week (Formerly TV-Turnoff) is not just about snubbing screens for seven days; it is a springboard for important lifestyle changes that will improve well-being and quality of life all year long. The first screen free event was held in 1996 and has been sponsored every year since by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. (CCFC) The week is endorsed by leading educational, environmental and public health organizations.
Let’s face it; children spend far too much time with screens. On average a pre-schooler spends 32 hours a week and even more hours are recorded for older children. Excessive screen time is harmful for children. Time with screens is linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, and attention problems. And it is primarily through screens that children are exposed to harmful marketing. Regardless of whether they are consuming “good” or “bad” programming, it is clear that screen media dominates the lives of far too many children, replacing all sorts of other activities that are so important to a well- rounded childhood.
May 2nd through the 8th are the dates designated for Screen-Free Week. I am giving you a full week to discuss this idea with your family. See if it is a realistic goal to limit screen time for seven days. Try to substitute a physical activity like a walk, a bike ride or playing with the dog each day. We want this to be a fun and innovative opportunity to improve children’s well-being by reducing dependence on entertainment screen media, including television, video games, computers and hand-held devices. It is a chance for children and their parents to examine their relationship with entertainment media and rediscover the joys of life beyond the screen.
If you would like to learn about the “Seven Parent Tested Tips to Unplug and Play” go to the www.commercialfreechildhood.org website. After you read that you will want to log out and plan to do something fun with your kids that does not involve a screen. Let me know how it goes!
Donna Krug is the Family and Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Barton County. You may reach her at (620)793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu