Every year, during the last week of April, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood hosts a nationwide "Screen-Free Week" to give us a chance to temporarily look away from our screens. This is the second year that we, the Amethyst Kids, have signed the pledge to spend a week screen-free. Last year was a relative success, mostly because (as became obvious only later) I, the teacher, was the biggest cheerleader for going screen-free at school, and also in my home, not only for Screen-Free Week, but for weeks to come. This year Screen-Free Week crept upon us so quickly that my promotional attitude was subdued, to put it mildly, and oh my did I witness what happens when the teacher can't be the role model for a challenging task. And so, we failed! In our defense, we DID learn about marketing, specifically all the marketing tricks aimed at kids, and we had a great discussion about consumerism, marketing, wants versus needs, and the hard data showing the connection between kids' screen-time and their health, emotions, and academics. If you're curious how to go Screen-Free for next year, take a look at the guide (below), and maybe you will fare better than us! Comments are closed.
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