Annual Turn Off the TV Week begins Monday, April 23. If you can't manage the whole week, why not start with just a day or two?
If you're like most of us, you and your family spend more time staring at a screen - (T.V. computer, PDA, etc.) than you do looking at each other.
Give it a rest for a week. If you aren't ready to pull the plugs for the whole week, try reducing screen time by just a few hours or a few days. Sure, it may seem tough at first; after all, many of us spend more time in front of a screen than we spend doing almost anything else - except sleeping. But you can do this...
Here are a few tips that might help.
- Sit the children down and talk with them about TV turnoff week and your plan to limit screen time
- Ask everyone for suggestions about what they'd like to do instead. You might consider having everyone in the family take responsibility for planning your evenings or hours without TV.
- Be prepared ahead of time to talk about the anticipated benefits - more time for outdoor play, lively conversations, more time to connect, be creative, feed imaginations... Children should not feel like they are being punished, but that they are being presented with an opportunity.
- Be prepared to set an example - children will hear the television if you turn it on after they go to bed
- Plan activities with neighborhood families if that will make time without television feel more special or exciting.
- Decide what you would like to get out of your TV free time to help strengthen your commitment.
The added bonuses of joining TV turn-off week?
- You may just learn something new about yourself or your child(ren).
- You may strengthen family relationships because you have extra time to spend together.
- You can pull your family out of the same old routine rut.
- Your kids may improve school performance because they will have more time for studies and sleep.
Give TV Turn Off Week a try and let me know about the bonuses you experience.
