Another Fabulous Screen-Free Week: More Friends, Family, and Fun in 2022

Another Fabulous Screen-Free Week: More Friends, Family, and Fun in 2022

by | May 15, 2022 | screenfree, Uncategorized

We were so excited to hear about your amazing experiences during Screen-Free Week 2022! From Nicaragua to Scotland to San Diego, tens of thousands of people relished in the “joy of missing out” from May 2 – 8. After the pandemic and resulting increases in screen time, it was so important to be gentle with ourselves this year. Perfection is NOT the point, and it’s clear that participants made the most of their screen-free time.

Want to keep screen breaks a regular part of your life? Check out our Screen-Free Saturdays resources! And save the date for Screen-Free Week 2023, May 3-9!

What did celebrations look like this year?

The best part of Screen-Free Week is the diversity and variation of celebrations. Some families spent the week on the beach, at the library, or in their own backyards. Often, schools and communities spearhead the celebration; in fact, one Wisconsin community hosted over 15 Screen-Free Week events this year! Below, check out these inspiring stories and photos from participants:

“We left behind our screens and had an unforgettable family adventure, camping at a national seashore for 5 days. Our girls saw tons of wildlife including armadillos, crabs, wild horses, manatees, a shark, and crabs. They spent long, unstructured days beachcombing, exploring ruins, playing in the waves, building sandcastles, climbing trees and making boats out of fallen leaves and bark. We reconnected with cousins and grandparents around the campfire. We laughed together when my sister caught a minnow between her toes, commiserated over mosquito bites, and gazed in wonder at a nest a bird had built in an open backpack pocket which had been undisturbed for 3 days—complete with a freshly laid egg! We didn’t miss the screens. Instead of living vicariously, watching adventures on a screen, we lived one!” –Emily, UT

“When I first mentioned Screen-Free Week to our students, they were asking all sorts of questions.. “How can we do this? What, no computer?, No technology? No iPads?” and on an on…Fast forward to the last day of the week: “Hey, Mrs. Baughman, can we do this again next week?” I’d say this Screen-Free Week made a lasting impact on our students. I plan to participate next year as well!” –Star, NC

“Our elementary school planned a screen free activity for each day of the week. The first day was an at home scavenger hunt, the 2nd day was a STEM night at the school, where we did 4 low tech STEM activities. The 3rd night we did a rock painting and sidewalk chalk night with out art teacher at the school to add rocks to our rock garden. The 4th night we held a pajama storybook night at the school, where teachers read to students throughout the school while in. their pajamas. The last night was an ice cream party at a local ice cream shop. We had over 100 students participate every night and 20 teachers help throughout the week.” -Bonne, NJ

“One thing we did without any stress was having meals together without staring at electronics. We will keep the rule and continue having meals together without screens. This was a great experience and we will try to limit screen time in the future.”–Sandra, MD

We’re thrilled to see all of the amazing experiences people had during Screen-Free Week. Take a look at the many ways people celebrated (plus more pictures) below. Thanks to everyone for participating and sharing your stories!

    • Making baby quilts
    • Taking Grammie out to lunch
    • Attending a church bonfire
    • Playing with legos
    • Reading, reading, reading!
    • Practicing the flute
    • Roasting hot dogs over the fire
    • Celebrating Mother’s Day
    • Swimming in creeks and lakes
    • Pajama storybook night
    • Building forts
    • Designing fairy houses
    • Playing with dolls
    • Horseback riding
    • Drawing/making art
    • Flag football!
    • Going to the zoo
    • Rock painting
    • Scavenger hunts
    • Hiking by candlelight
  • Playing with puppies
  • Spending time with friends
  • Attending an art show
  • Looking through a telescope
  • Barbecue and ice cream!
  • Racing through obstacle courses
  • Planting flowers
  • Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
  • Dancing in the park
  • Visiting museums

Screen-Free Week in the Classroom

Screen-Free Week in the Classroom

by | May 4, 2022 | Uncategorized

Teachers are sometimes the first people to notice screen addictions in our kids, and we often get questions from schools about what Screen-Free Week looks like in a classroom setting. Luckily, it can be celebrated in so many different ways! Here, Indiana teacher Justin Croy discusses how his own class goes screen-free every year.

I spent days thinking of ways I could help teachers prepare for Screen-Free Week, compiling reasons why they should celebrate in their classrooms – until I realized that if you’re reading this blog, there is a good chance that you already know why it’s important. Instead, I decided to share how my middle schoolers celebrate Screen-Free Week in my Digital Citizenship class, as well as provide some hands-on activities that anyone can implement –in and outside the classroom.

At the beginning of each school year every student wants to know, “What is Digital Citizenship?” My response is usually short: “it’s how to act online.” At first, even with the obvious relevance of this theme, I struggled for a while to figure out how Screen-Free Week would fit in my curriculum. When I first approached my administrators about celebrating, the idea was met with awkward looks, followed by the daunting question, “How does spending 5 to 7 class days without technology relate to, well, technology?”

After tossing the idea around for a while, I found the perfect fit for Screen-Free Week in my Digital Citizenship curriculum: one of the nine elements of Digital Citizenship is “Digital Balance.” Digital Balance is the way students balance their time on screen with physical and mental activities that do not involve screens. Although only spending 1 out of 36 weeks without screens doesn’t necessarily seem balanced, it is a step in the right direction. Screen-Free Week provides the perfect opportunity to teach students about the importance of setting their technology aside and finding other ways to engage their mind and body. It’s a real “stop and smell the roses” approach to technology.  

Implementing Screen-Free Week is a process, and it requires some planning ahead. I spend weeks mentally preparing for the week, mulling over what we will do and how we will do it. What will modern students find fun? What if it rains? What if we have to go back to virtual or synchronous learning? Mentally preparing seems to be half the battle.

However, the most important part of planning is to create or discover 3 to 4 activities for your students to do in the classroom during the week. I usually opt for STEM activities, but a simple online search can help find activities that you can do in your classroom. Below is a sample itinerary for the week that has worked well for my students:

TIPS – I instruct all students to leave technology in their locker during my class for the week. I will give them extra time to get to class and I will send them back to their locker if they bring it with them. It’s a simple trick to refocus attention away from handheld devices.

MONDAY – Resource Day

    1. Explain what Screen-Free Week is to students and why it is important. 
    2. Have students fill out a Screen-Free Week pledge card.
    3. Pass out the Write Your Screen-Free Plan handout. (I instruct students to think about what they can do to go screen-free. I suggest they complete this by finding other activities rather than being on their device. Examples include “Not be on my device on the bus”).
    4. Finally, distribute the I Go Screen-Free Because handout. I have students use colored pencils to draw a photo and write why they go screen-free. I instruct them to take their time. I then take the handouts and hang them outside the classroom door. 

TUESDAY – POPSICLE STICK TOWERS (STEM Activity)

(See Lesson Plan Below)

WEDNESDAY – Toothpick Bridge Challenge (STEM Activity)

(See Lesson Plan Below)

THURSDAY – Student Day

On Thursday, I allow students to come up with their own ideas for what to do. I inform them that if the weather is nice, we will go outside and enjoy the outdoors together. When outside, some students play tag, while others clean up the trash around the school or take laps around the track. If the weather is not cooperating on that day, we remain inside and students have the opportunity to either play a class game or do individual group activities, such as board or card games. There are only two rules: no doing homework (students must be communicating with each other) and, of course, no sleeping. 

FRIDAY – Review Screen-Free Week

On Friday, we review what we did, how it helped them, and what they learned by going screen-free for that week. I allow each student to share what they experienced; as a conversation starter, I ask the students these questions:

    1. What did you learn by celebrating Screen-Free Week?
    2. What did you like most about Screen-Free Week?
    3. Did you celebrate Screen-Free Week at home?

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

POPSICLE STICK TOWER STEM ACTIVITY

Students will use popsicle sticks and glue to build a tall structure

Time: (45 Min)

       Explaining/passing out materials (10 Min)

       Students building towers (25 Min)

       Measure bridges (5 Min)

       Clean up (5 Min)

USING GLUE STICKS

What you will need:

       1 – red solo cup for base

       100 –  popsicle sticks per group 

       1 – large rubber band

       1 – yardstick for measuring 

Instructor prep:

  •  Flip the cup upside down and put the rubber band around the cup. 
  • Take 4 popsicle sticks and insert them equidistant around the cup. This will act as a base. 
  • Give the group the rest of the popsicle sticks and have them begin. They have 25 minutes to build the highest tower they can. 
  • Take a yard stick and measure the height of each tower. 
  • The group with the highest tower wins!

    USING HOT GLUE GUNS

    What you will need

           100 –  popsicle sticks per group 

           2 – hot glue guns per group 

           4 – hot glue sticks

           1 – yardstick for measuring 

    Instructor Prep

    • Divide students into groups of 3 or 4. 
    • Give the students the glue guns and 100 popsicle sticks and have them begin. They have 25 minutes to build the highest tower they can. 
    • Take a yard stick and measure the height of each tower. 
    • The group with the highest tower wins!

      —————————————————————————————————————————————-

      TOOTHPICK BRIDGE CHALLENGE – STEM ACTIVITY

      Students will use toothpicks and marshmallows to build the strongest bridge they can. 

      Time: (50 Min)

             Explaining/passing out materials (10 Min)

             Students building bridges (25 Min)

             Testing bridges (10 Min)

             Clean up (5 Min)

      What you will need:

             1 – bag of small (mini) marshmallows (will cover 2-3 groups)

             100 –  toothpicks 

             1 – ruler per group 

      Instructions:

      Divide students into groups of 3 or 4.

      Give each group 100 toothpicks and a cup of small marshmallows. 

      Tell students that bridges must be at least 12 inches long. Use a ruler to measure.

      Students have 25 minutes to build a bridge. Inform the students that their bridge will have to hold when suspended between two desks. 

      Move two school desks (or other structures of equal height) 8 inches apart. Have students move their bridge and lay each end equally between the two desks. If the bridge holds, add a pencil on top of the bridge. The bridge that can hold the most weight for the longest amount of time wins. 

      Instructor Prep

      • Flip a ½ – full cup of mini marshmallows and give them to each class.
      • Give each group 1 box of 100 toothpicks.
      • Give them 1 ruler to measure the length of their bridge.
      • Winner is determined by how long the bridge stays suspended across the desks, if time becomes an issue add some type of weight (coins or pencils, etc.) across the bridge. 


      Mr. Justin Croy is Business & Technology Educator at Culver Community Middle/High School in Indiana. Since becoming a teacher in 2018, Mr. Croy has taught Interactive Media, Business, Communications, Radio & TV, Entrepreneurship and Broadcasting, and Digital Citizenship. He also coaches football & basketball at CCMHS. Mr. Croy is a lifelong resident of Culver, living there with his wife Hanna and daughter Elleighana. 

      Screen-Free Week Book List winners read from their books!

      Screen-Free Week Book List winners read from their books!

      by | Apr 23, 2022 | screenfree, Uncategorized

      For Screen-Free Week 2022, in partnership with Children’s Book Week, we invited the authors from our Screen-Free Week Booklist to send in videos of them reading their books. The Manic Panic by Richa Jha and Mithila Ananth is one of our favorite new books on the list; below, author Richa Jha reads from their amazing tale.

      More about The Manic Panic: Some grown-ups have so much screen time that they just can’t cope when the wifi goes out. Luckily the grown-ups in The Manic Panic live with a smart kid who loves to read and an adventurous grandma who knows how to have fun without the internet. The Manic Panic is a wry look at the value of unplugged family time, even when someone is resistant to the real world. (AGES 5-11)

      Next, Roopa Raveendran-Menon, the author of Chandu and the Super Set of Parents, reads from Chapter 1 of her wonderful new book. Chandu and the Super Set of Parents is a heartwarming examination of the meaning of family.

      More about Chandu and the Super Set of Parents: When Chandu’s strict parents threaten to ship him off to boarding school, Chandu wonders what it would be like to have different parents and comes across a curious storefront: The Exchange Your Parents Shop. Chandu has the opportunity to become the child of math geniuses, movie superstars, or sports icons. Including themes surrounding screen use, this is a fantastical tale set against a rich tapestry of Indian food, culture, and customs. (AGES 7-12)

      Finally, author Adam Ciccio and baby June read Go Out and Play, an adorable children’s picture book about putting down the screens to play outside, illustrated by Katrien Benaets! This book is an awesome addition to our 2022 Screen-Free Week Book List!

      More about Go Out and Play: The clouds are gone and the sun is out. It’s time to put the phones away and enjoy the sunshine before the sun goes down. There are so many things to explore outside. Play soccer, skateboard, or find new bugs! What will you do with your time outside? (AGES 0-11)

      Mindful ME-search: How does NOT having screens impact me?

      Mindful ME-search: How does NOT having screens impact me?

      by | Apr 3, 2022 | Uncategorized

      In the newest Screen-Free Week blog post, author and mindfulness educator Erica Marcus provides a helpful guide for reflecting on our own screen habits. With Screen-Free Week less than a month away, let’s take some time to think about when we use tech and why. Read these seven great questions to ask yourself as we prepare to go screen-free this spring!

      Taking time away from screens is an incredibly useful practice for noticing the impact of technology on our lives! That’s why I love the idea of Screen-Free Saturdays and an entire Screen-Free Week. It can help us realize some of the ways tech affects us that we can’t see when we are immersed in it. In my life, I try to regularly take time away from screens. That ranges from short moments throughout the day, like at dinner or right before bed, to day-long off-switches, to even longer stretches when I go on retreat. 

      In my book, Attention Hijacked: Using Mindfulness to Reclaim Your Brain from Tech, I explore how practicing mindful tech use can help us stay grounded in our values and aware of the impact of screen use on ourselves, others around us, and our environment. Mindfulness helps us approach our lives with curiosity and without judgment. We can start asking ourselves questions and really pay attention to the answers, honestly exploring how our tech use is adding to and subtracting from our lives. When we have this open and curious attention, we can course correct when our tech use takes us away from our values or wellness. We can also notice and appreciate the ways tech helps us show up in the world as we want to be. 

      So you might approach your week of unplugging as a giant science experiment, where you are the subject! Get out a journal and see if you can track, from day 1 to day 7, how not having your tech impacts your life. Here are some guiding questions to consider:

      1. What do you do instead of tech? Read? Go outside? Stare at the wall?
      2. When do you long for screen time? Are there certain times of day or things that happen that make you crave it? 
      3. What feelings draw you to your screen? Boredom? Stress? Excitement?
      4. What do you crave doing when you are on screens? Social media? Video games? Work?  
      5. How does being off tech impact your mind? Do you feel clear-headed? More focused? Or more distracted?
      6. How does being off tech impact your body? Do you find yourself more well-rested? Faster to recover from workouts?
      7. How does being off tech impact your emotions? Do you feel FOMO? Do you feel freer?

      I invite you to ask some of these questions of yourself as you undertake your tech-free week. Here are some of my findings from past screen-free experiences:

      1. What do I do instead of tech? Two things: read and sleep. I read so much more! The little free libraries in my neighborhood can’t keep up with my demand when I am not streaming shows right up until bedtime. Also, I noticed that I go to bed earlier. Instead of giving my mind and body the rest it needed, I was stimulating it more with shows. I find that when I go to bed earlier, I wake up well-rested.
      2. When do I long for screen time? I really crave tech right when I get home from school and at the end of the night. Replacement activities—like tea, yoga, a walk, or reading in bed—helps with that yearning for tech.
      3. What feelings draw me to my screen? For me, it is often a sense of exhaustion or stress. Sometimes, instead of caring for myself in those moments, I turn towards distraction. I really noticed that when I had nothing to impulsively grab for.
      4. What do I crave doing when I’m on there? I tend to be pulled by streaming shows, reels on Instagram, and/or reading the news. I look for mindless activities.
      5. How does being off tech impact my mind? Over time, I notice more clear- mindedness. Maybe it is the extra sleep, but I think it also has to do with having less extraneous clutter from the stories I take in on social media. Taking the screens away feels like airing out my mind: I emerge refreshed. 
      6. How does being off tech impact my body? After limiting my tech use, my body feels rested. I also noticed I am more ready to get out of bed in the morning, which is HUGE.
      7. How does being off tech impact my emotions? At first, it is always a struggle to not turn to my phone. I miss it! But after a while, once I have new routines, I really appreciate the shift. 

      Moments away from screens remind me that I have choice in what I do with my time and control over how I feel. When I go to bed earlier because I’m not streaming shows, it can change the whole feeling of the next day. When I actually take time to care for difficult emotions rather than distract myself from them, I am able to more easily let them go. While I am not going to eliminate tech completely, I now have a better understanding of how I use it and some alternatives to replace habitual use.

      What does your investigation reveal? What changes might you make because of what you learned? You have the opportunity to reset and decide how you want to use tech–instead of simply letting tech control you!

      About the Author

      About the Author

      Erica Marcus has spent over fifteen years learning from the teens she works with as a classroom teacher, mindfulness educator/director, and a wilderness youth therapy field guide. She is based in Portland, Maine.

      Photos provided by the author.

       

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      Universities and the Screen Time Problem

      Universities and the Screen Time Problem

      by | Mar 25, 2022 | Uncategorized

      In this op-ed, Screen-Free Week Coordinator Lucy Kidwell reminds us that that universities have a part to play in digital wellness –some screen-time is structural.  As students, it’s tempting to blame ourselves for struggles with tech, but let’s give each other some grace!

      When we think about the phrase “screen time,” our minds often immediately go to childhood: how many hours should my preschooler be watching TV? Can my teen handle a smartphone? Should screens be allowed in schools? In fact, as coordinator of the annual Screen-Free Week celebration, much of my role is dedicated to distributing resources to young families with questions like these. And, of course they ask! These concerns are especially relevant, as developing minds are uniquely susceptible to the influence of screens.

      However, with college-age mental health issues worse than ever before and time spent in nature rapidly decreasing, the screen time discussion is in desperate need of expansion.

      On college campuses, the link between poor mental health and excessive screen use is undeniable. A Healthy Minds Network 2020 survey divulged that two-thirds of college students struggled with loneliness, with a whopping 83 percent indicating that poor mental health detracted from their academic performance. This is notable, as these higher instances of depression and anxiety–as well as tense relationships, eye strain, poor sleep, and physical health complications–are directly tied to excessive screen time. And of course, the more time students spend on screens, the less time they spend outdoors, directly impacting mental health, happiness, and cognition and our likelihood to protect the environment.

      One Stanford University Study revealed that during an average week of in-person classes, screen use made up 50.2% of a student’s waking hours–increasing to a scary 77.6% during the pandemic. This startling statistic, coupled with the fact that over half of students use their devices for more than 50 hours a week, indicates a problem that demands some creative reimagining.

      Often, with regards to my age group, excessive screen time or media addiction is painted as an individual problem…a problem of self-control or moral failure. How many times have we heard the familiar complaints that “My daughter, a college freshman, can’t get off her phone!” or “I just wish I could stop scrolling and finish this paper…” There is a sort of latent assumption that when children age into their twenties and move away, their screen-time problems become just that–ours. 

      But as a current college senior who joined the Zoom ranks of the pandemic and came of age just as screen-use skyrocketed, I believe otherwise. Bleary-eyed, Zoom-fatigued, and stuck indoors, I argue that excessive screen use–especially among university students–is a larger, more systemic issue. And it is an issue that universities must account for.

      The fact that universities rely on online communication for everything is an uncontested reality. Weekly newsletters, assignment notifications, club meetings, and even class readings are all posted online, easily accessed by a couple of clicks. Not to mention that the pandemic opened a Pandora’s Box of recorded lectures and Zoom meetings, making it even easier (and more convenient) to stay inside. Even after the era of pandemic shutdowns, students shuffle from windowless classrooms to stare at slideshows–laptops open all the while–to the fluorescent lights of libraries to do homework (on computers, of course).

      This issue is often exacerbated for those in urban areas, whose integration with the outdoors and access to screen-free spaces is even more limited. Not to mention the well-established racial and class divide inherent to the screen-time discussion, with lower-income children and BIPOC spending much more time on screens than white or middle-income children. Clearly, this issue has implications for equity work across countless intersectional spaces, demanding consideration at the university-policy level.

      In my experience, all of these screen-heavy practices reduce intentional, embodied time–time rooted in space and place, in the natural world and human connection. I have lost track of how many hikes in my beautiful backyard of Southern Indiana were interrupted by a reminder of an upcoming assignment or an email from a professor. And of course, Zoom meetings proved deeply necessary during the pandemic, but you miss out on the soft, human subtleties revealed in the presence of another person. The eye-contact, body language, and quasi intimacy of sharing physical spaces has gradually disappeared.

      The situation is far from hopeless, however. Universities can implement a variety of changes to ameliorate this issue if they are willing to listen to the concerns of students. Steps can be taken to reduce email clutter and unnecessary notifications, physically post announcements in central areas, host classes outside, and prioritize the use of books and hand-written assignments–even if they prove clunky or inconvenient. I know that I like taking a book outside and reading on a nice day, but I would rather not squint at my laptop in the sun.

      It may sound simple, but refusing to operate from the assumption that screen-time is a MUST for college students would be a great step forward. Finally, universities can prove that they take digital wellness–and thus, student mental health–seriously by participating in Screen-Free Week, distributing digital detox resources, increasing their capacity for accessible mental health services (with professionals in tech addiction), and even forming student advisory boards to discuss digital wellness issues.

      I know that I am blessed to have access to a wonderful and enriching university education; countless colleges clearly value their students, my alma mater included. Hopefully, this practice of screen time self-care will produce ripple effects, impacting the most pressing issues of our age. Without the artificial separation of screens and their constant demands on our attention, we can become more intentional, involved, and interconnected as students and young professionals. Perhaps caring for our world also looks a lot like caring for ourselves…starting with the screen time problem.

      About the Author

      About the Author

      Lucy Kidwell serves as the Screen-Free Week Coordinator at Fairplay and co-chair of the Action Network’s Interfaith Work Group. She also studies Religion and International Law at Indiana University. Lucy loves reading, rock climbing, and folk dancing –come say hi!

      Photos provided by the author.

       

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      Screen-Freedom: Not Just for Kids

      Screen-Freedom: Not Just for Kids

      by | Mar 18, 2022 | Uncategorized

      It is so easy to forget that Screen-Free Week isn’t just for kids! It’s a time of intention, rest, and creativity for all, something that Lauren Koslow reminds us in her lovely post on what going screen-free means for her –not only as a parent, but as a librarian, friend, and activist as well.

      I have been celebrating Screen-free Week since before parenthood, and even as my life incorporates an impressionable child who wasn’t there before, I still advocate for any adult participating.

      My disclaimer is that I do try to keep a low-tech life year-round, as someone who intentionally does not have a smartphone…because I unintentionally seem to have a predisposition to tech addiction, as I imagine many well-functioning adults these days do. A wealth is being written on the subject of digital time-sucks and attention-destroyers, from The Shallows by Nicholas Carr (which opened my eyes a dozen years ago) to new release Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (which is at the top of my TBR list).

      Each year as Screen-Free Week approaches, this librarian makes a book display, this parent searches online (in advance) for special local happenings, and this friend makes a list of 30 people to whom I will write (for the overlapping Letter-Writing Month). The spring weather helps. The manner in which I have lost too much precious time scrolling through winter helps. And the biggest help is this sense of making a public commitment in a community of like-minded people. It truly is a fun challenge!

      During Screen-Free Week, I do myriad mundane things that, without technology at the helm, have me being more satisfied, creative, and connected–socially and naturally. Because of this dedicated event, when I have the impulse to look something up online, regardless of how fast and efficient I may be, I pause to remember the pledge and to realize that it’s never just one thing with a device.  

      And after Screen-Free Week, I am reset. I can appreciate the real lived experience of being unplugged (save for that which is mandated by work). I can make calls to friends with ease, not anxiety, because now it has not been months since we last spoke. I can better relish the time with my daughter without being distracted, and I have a light heart with which to join in her imaginary play. I realize that life is better without being constantly connected to digital chatter and information overload. And each year, I get better at making this realization–informing how I spend my time–last.

      About the Author

      About the Author

      Lauren Read Koslow is a librarian, parent, activist, and urbanist who calls Baltimore home. Aiming to do most things with care and intention, she has been wary of following trends for trends’ sake. She has commemorated Screen-Free Week since 2015 and is excited to further involve her child.

      Photos provided by the author.

       

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