Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Screen Free Week



The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration among organizations and individuals who care about children.

This year they are excited to sponsor National Screen Free Week April 18-24. This is a great cause that the doctors at Willow Creek strongly support! The following is the press release from their website:


April 15, 2011
Contact: Josh Golin (617-896-9369;
josh@commercialfreechildhood.org)
MEDIA ADVISORY




Screen-Free Week: April 18-24, 2011Children Around the Country to Turn Off Screens and Turn on Life!



What: It’s almost Screen-Free Week—the annual national celebration where children, families, schools, and communities turn off TV, video games, computers, and hand-held devices and turn on life. Instead of relying on screens for entertainment, they play, read, daydream, explore nature, and enjoy spending time with family and friends.

When: April 18-24, 2011

Why: Children spend far too much time with screens: an astonishing average of 32 hours a week for preschoolers and even more for older children. Time with screens is linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, attention issues and other health and social problems.

Where: Homes, schools, libraries, faith communities, municipalities, and businesses around the country.

For a listing of Screen-Free activities, please see
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/events.html.


Who: Screen-Free Week is endorsed by seventy-five organizations including American Public Health Association, the National Head Start Association, KaBOOM!, the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity and the US Play Coalition. The City of Boston and the State of Massachusetts have proclaimed April 18-24 officially Screen-Free Week for residents. For a complete list of endorsers, see
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/endorsers.html.

Nationally recognized experts on children and media—as well as children, parents, and teachers participating in Screen-Free Week—will be available for interviews both prior to and during the week.

For more information about Screen-Free Week, please see
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/index.html.

For a fact sheet on children and screen time, please visit:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/factsheets/screentime.pdf.


For detailed information on CCFC and Screen Free Week, you can visit their website at

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