Editing Screen-Free Week

{{Short description|Annual event}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name               = Screen-Free Week
| date               = first full week of May
| frequency          = annually
| first              = 1994
| URL                = {{URL|http://www.screenfree.org}}
}}
'''Screen-Free Week''' (formerly '''TV Turnoff Week''' and '''Digital Detox Week''') is an annual event where children, families, schools and communities around the world are encouraged to turn off screens and "turn on life". Instead of relying on screen-related media such as [[television program]]ming or [[video game]]s 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]] (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.  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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenfree.org|title=Screen-Free Week|website=Screen-Free Week|access-date=2016-03-26}}</ref>

==History==
In 1994, the week was first championed by TV-Free America and its founder Henry Labalme, and promoted by [[Adbusters]] 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]] alliance of many different organizations, with participation in over 70 nations around the world. 

CCFC changed the name of TV-Turnoff Week to Screen-Free Week in 2010, since entertainment media (and [[advertising]]) are increasingly delivered through a variety of screens (computers, hand-held devices, etc.), and not just traditional [[television commercial]]s. In 2008, [[Adbusters]] changed the name of '''TV Turnoff Week''' to '''Digital Detox Week''' to reflect the growing predominance of computers and other digital devices.

==Members and supporters==
Important members of the network include [[Adbusters]] in [[Canada]] and [[White Dot]] in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] (named after the small white dot that would briefly appear when turning off older [[TV set]]s, especially [[black-and-white]] ones). A related organization, {{lang|es|Asesores TV La Familia Internacional}}, works in many countries with large [[Spanish language|Spanish]]-speaking populations. In France, {{lang|fr|Casseurs de pub}} is part of the event.<ref>[http://www.casseursdepub.org/ Casseurs de pub<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In Brazil, [[Instituto Alana]] promotes the ''Semana sem telas''.<ref>[http://alana.org.br/semana-sem-telas-2013 Semana sem telas 2013]</ref>  

More than seventy other organizations, such as the [[American Heart Association]], the [[American Medical Association]], [[Big Brothers Big Sisters of America]], the [[YMCA]], and the [[Association of Waldorf Schools of North America]] (AWSNA) support the movement in the US.<ref name=":0" /> In 2004, a major partnership was created with the American Academy of Pediatrics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Korioth |first=Trisha |last2=Writer |first2=Staff |date=2016-05-02 |title=FYI: Screen-Free Week resources |url=https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/10212/FYI-Screen-Free-Week-resources?_gl=1*89xorf*_ga*ODEzMDE3NjI0LjE3NDE4NzAwMjE.*_ga_FD9D3XZVQQ*MTc0MTg3MDAyMS4xLjEuMTc0MTg3MDU1MC4wLjAuMA..*_ga_GMZCQS1K47*MTc0MTg3MDAyMS4xLjEuMTc0MTg3MDU1MS4wLjAuMA..?autologincheck=redirected |language=English}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Culture jamming]]
*[[Digital addict]]
*[[Digital detox]]
*''[[Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television]]''
*[[History of television]]
*[[Media psychology]]
*[[Social aspects of television]]
*[[Television studies]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Postman | first=Neil
 | author-link=Neil Postman
 | year=1985
 | title=Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
 | publisher=Penguin | location= USA
 | isbn=0-670-80454-1
}}
* {{cite book |author=Postman, Neil |title=The Disappearance of Childhood |publisher=Vintage |location=London |year=1994 |isbn=0-679-75166-1 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Jean Lotus |author2=Burke, David |title=Get a Life! |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |year=1998 |isbn=0-7475-3689-9 }}
* {{cite book |author=Cheryl Pawlowski |title=Glued to the tube: the threat of television addiction to today's society |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Ill |year=2000 |isbn=1-57071-459-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gluedtotubethrea00pawl }}
* {{cite book |author=Marie McClendon |title=Alternatives to TV Handbook |publisher=Whole Human Beans Co |year=2001 |isbn=0-9712524-0-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=Winn, Marie |title=The plug-in drug: television, computers, and family life |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year=2002 |isbn=0-14-200108-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Ellen Currey-Wilson |title=The Big Turnoff: Confessions of a TV-Addicted Mom Trying to Raise a TV-Free Kid |publisher=Algonquin Books |location=Chapel Hill, NC |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-56512-539-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bigturnoffconfes00curr_0 }}
*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/21/DI2006042101226.html "Turning Off the TV"] article at ''[[The Washington Post]]''. April 24, 2006.  Accessed December 23, 2008.

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.screenfree.org/}}
*[http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/ Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood]
*[http://www.adbusters.org/ Adbusters Media Foundation]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Screen-Free Week}}
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1994]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Child welfare activism]]
[[Category:Television organizations]]
[[Category:Awareness weeks]]
[[Category:Television terminology]]
[[Category:History of television in the United States]]
[[Category:May observances]]