30/04/2018

Screen-Free Week

Screen-Free Week takes place on 30th April until 6th May and encourages schools, communities and families to spend time away from their screens.

The idea behind it is that we are so connected to tablets, phones and computers that we don’t always make time to do things like read a book or just daydream.

The organisers behind Screen-Free Week is the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood who say on the Screen-Free website, “Plan to unplug from digital entertainment and spend all that free time playing, reading, daydreaming, creating, exploring, and connecting with family and friends!”

Similarly to when we didn’t have smartphones and had to rely on the landline for phoning people, or the dictionary for looking up words, rather than having everything at our fingertips. And there are plenty of articles out there about how important it is to have time away from our devices.

Studies have also shown that having your mobile phone next to you while you sleep could have long term health implications. We still don’t know everything about the safety of technology in our lives, but what is vital is that we know how to manage it.

Screen-Free Week is about helping people to unplug, switch off from screens and do something with other people. Maybe it’s organising an event, making lunch together, walking, writing a letter, doing crafts or listening to music. And not just that, but ensuring the whole family is involved. That means no phones at the dinner table if you’re all eating together and swapping a night in front of the TV, for a night of board games with friends and family.

Whilst modern day devices certainly have their place, we have generations growing up who don’t know what life was like before mobile phones. Let’s join together and ensure that we are role models for generations to come. Show that we can have a healthy balance of screen-time and non screen-time.

Are you doing something for Screen-Free Week? Tweet us @empsn to tell us about it.

Find out more about Screen-Free Week.

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