Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff, founded 1994) is an annual event in which parents, children, teachers and others across the country turn off screen media (TV, video games, computers, cell phones, etc.) and celebrate the magic of being unplugged. Screen-Free Week is a program of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
Screen-Free Week
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children under 2 and less than 2 hours per day for older children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents create an electronic-media-free environment in children’s bedrooms.
The Benefits of Reduced Screen Time
• Reducing screen time can help prevent childhood obesity.
• Children who spend less time watching television in the early years tend to do better in school, have a healthier diet, and are more physically active.
Hazards of Too Much Screen Time
•Adolescents with a television in their bedroom spend more time watching TV and report less physical activity, less healthy dietary habits, worse school performance, and fewer family meals.
• Children with a television in their bedroom are more likely to be overweight.
Alternative Activities During Screen-Free Week
- Prepare a family meal together
- Take a walk in the park or neighborhood
- Start a family fitness program
- Plant a vegetable garden or grow a fruit tree
- Plan a picnic or barbecue
- Take a nature hike around your neighborhood
- Organize a scavenger hunt
- Learn yoga
- Dance
- Volunteer
1. American Heart Association, Limit Screen Time and Get Your Kids (and the WholeFamily) Moving