Getting Ready for Screen-Free Week

Screen-Free Week, a national initiative of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Child­hood (CCFC), began in 1995 and has helped millions of children and families around the world turn off screens and, in their words, “ turn on life”.

As a parent and a Screen-Free Week organizer, I know that children are spend­ing way too much time with screens: a staggering 32 hours a week for preschoolers and even more for older kids. Miniaturized media technology (including cell phones featuring child-tar­geted apps, mp3 players, iPads, and other handheld devices) mean that children are immersed in screens, and the things they sell, nearly every waking moment.

We are learning the costs of all this sedentary, indoor screen time, as well: poor school performance, childhood obesity, and problems with at­tention are just a few. Regardless of content, excessive screen time changes children’s fundamental connection to the world. It deprives them of hands-on creative play—the foundation of learning, creativity, constructive problem-solving, and the capacity to wrestle with life and derive meaning from their experiences.

To bring Screen-Free Week to as many people in our area as possible, and give families opportunities and ideas for ways to explore their own ideas and creations, enjoy each other, and take pleasure in the world around them, Green Meadow Waldorf School (where I work as Director of Communications and Marketing) is hosting a Screen-Free Week kickoff event here on our campus on April 28 from 2-4pm.

We’ll share an afternoon of fun activities that will inspire and equip your family to have a great Screen-Free Week together. The day includes music, games, crafts, sports, food, a cooking class with Chef Anthony of Threefold Café, a Spring Explorations Nature Walk, and more! The event is free and open to the public.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be blogging here about inspiring Screen-Free Week events in other communities, about the effect of media on our children (and ourselves), and much more. I hope you’ll keep reading.