Screen-Free Week (formerly TV Turnoff Week and Digital Detox Week) is an annual event where children, families, schools and communities are encouraged to turn off screens and "turn on life". Instead of relying on
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
ming for entertainment, participants read, daydream, explore, enjoy nature, and spend time with family and friends. Over 300 million people have taken part in the turnoff, with millions participating each year.
In 2010,
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Fairplay, previously known as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), is a United States "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children nd isthe only nationa ...
(CCFC) became the home of Screen-Free Week at the request of the Board of the Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness (CSTA), which ran the initiative since 1994 (first as TV-Free America). CCFC launched a new website and developed a new Organizer's Kit, fact sheets, and other materials for Screen-Free Week 2011 and beyond. The Screen-Free Week Organizer's Kit is available as a free download.
History
In 1994, the week was first championed by TV-Free America, and promoted by
Adbusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Environmentalism, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself ...
magazine and other organizations. TV-Free America then became Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness. CSTA was an organization that encouraged all people to use electronic screen media responsibly and then have more time for a healthy life and more community participation. It was a
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
alliance of many different organizations, with participation in over 70 nations around the world. Screen Free week happens in Canada.
CCFC changed the name of TV-Turnoff to Screen-Free Week in 2010, since entertainment media (and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
) are increasingly delivered through a variety of screens (computers, hand-held devices, etc.), and not just traditional
television commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s. In 2008,
Adbusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Environmentalism, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself ...
changed the name of TV Turnoff Week to Digital Detox Week to reflect the growing predominance of computers and other digital devices.
The 2019 event took place from 29 April to 5 May.
Members and supporters
Important members of the network include
Adbusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Environmentalism, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
White Dot
White Dot is an anti-television organisation based in the UK. It encourages people to not watch television, and also to switch off televisions in cafés and pubs with devices such as the TV-B-Gone. It also organises what it calls '' zocalo'' (a Me ...
in the
UK (named after the small white dot that would briefly appear when turning off older
TV set
A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
s, especially
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
ones). A related organization, , works in many countries with large
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
-speaking populations. In France, is part of the event. In Brazil,
Instituto Alana promotes the ''Semana sem telas''.
Semana sem telas 2013
/ref>
More than seventy other organizations, such as the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...
, the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's state ...
, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth". Adult volunteers are matched with children from ag ...
the YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
, and the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) support the movement in the US. In 2004, a major partnership was created with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
See also
*Culture jamming
Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It atte ...
* Digital addict
*Digital detox
A digital detox is a period of time when a person voluntarily refrains from using digital devices such as smartphones, computers, and social media platforms. This form of detoxification has gained popularity, as individuals have increased their t ...
*''Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television
''Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television'' is a 1978 book by Jerry Mander, "who argues that many of the problems with television are inherent in the medium and technology itself, and thus cannot be reformed".
Mander was an advertiser f ...
''
*History of television
The concept of television was the work of many individuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first practical transmissions of moving images over a radio system used mechanical rotating perforated disks to scan a scene into a time-var ...
*Media psychology
Media psychology is the branch and specialty field in psychology that focuses on the interaction of human behavior with media and technology. Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content; it includes all forms of mediated communi ...
*Social aspects of television
The mass media, medium of television has had many influences on society since its inception. The belief that this impact has been dramatic has been largely unchallenged in media theory since its inception. However, there is much dispute as to wha ...
*Television studies
Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass communication research, which tends to approach the topic from a social sciences perspective. Defining the field ...
References
Further reading
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"Turning Off the TV"
article at ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. April 24, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2008.
External links
*
Campaign for a Commercial-Free ChildhoodAdbusters Media Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Screen-Free Week
Child welfare activism
Television organizations
Awareness weeks
Television terminology
History of television
May observances