The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sara Adelmann, CCFC (617-896-9377; sara@commercialfreechildhood.org)

Screen-Free Week: May 4 -10, 2015

Children Around the Globe Unplug and Reconnect with the World Around Them

WASHINGTON

What: Screen-Free Week is the annual, international celebration where children, families, schools, and communities swap digital entertainment for the joys of life beyond the screen. Instead of watching TV, surfing the web, or playing with apps and video games, they read, play, think, create, get active, and spend more time with family and friends.

When: May 4-10, 2015

Why: Regardless of whether children are consuming "good" or "bad" programming, it's clear that screen media dominates the lives of far too many kids, displacing all sorts of other activities that are integral to childhood. Children who spend less time with screens are more likely to have a more healthy diet, be more active, do better in school, and spend more time in creative play. In addition, it is primarily through screens that children are exposed to harmful marketing. Screen-Free Week is a fun and innovative opportunity for families to take a break from digital entertainment and reduce their dependence on it.

Where: Homes, schools, libraries, faith communities, neighborhood associations, and businesses around the world. For a map of Screen-Free Week activities, please see https://www.screenfree.org/find-event/.

Who: Kids, families, schools, and whole communities. Organizations endorsing Screen-Free Week include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National WIC Association, KaBOOM!, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Alliance for Childhood, the National Black Child Development Institute, and the American Public Health Association. For a complete list of endorsers, see https://www.screenfree.org/endorsers/.

Available for interviews: Nationally recognized experts on children and media--as well as parents and teachers participating in Screen-Free Week--are available for interviews.

For more information about Screen-Free Week, please visit https://www.screenfree.org.

For a fact sheet on young children and screen time, please visit https://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/unplug-preschool-citations.

Endorser quotes (https://www.screenfree.org/endorsers/) and images (https://www.screenfree.org/sfw-logos/) are also available.

Fairplay, formerly known as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, educates the public about commercialism's impact on kids' wellbeing and advocates for the end of child-targeted marketing. Fairplay organizes parents to hold corporations accountable for their marketing practices, advocates for policies to protect kids, and works with parents and professionals to reduce children's screen time.