April 25, 2022. Screen-Free Week is May 2-8, 2022!

Contact:
Rachel Franz, Screen-Free Week
(802) 598-4556
[email protected]

Screen-Free Week is May 2-8, 2022!

Advocacy organization Fairplay’s annual celebration of life beyond screens returns

BOSTON – Monday, April 25, 2022  Screen-Free Week is almost here! The international celebration, hosted by the nonprofit Fairplay, takes place from May 2-8 this year. Schools, libraries, communities, and families around the world will organize events designed to help children turn off screens in order to connect with family, friends, nature, and their own creativity.

It’s clear that we need to unplug now more than ever. With online schooling, Zoom-fatigue, and the many studies showing the adverse impact of excessive screen time (not to mention the unregulated algorithms used by Big Tech to keep users online), everyone can use this opportunity to rest, connect, and create. 

Here’s what pledgers are saying about Screen-Free Week:

  • “This is an opportunity to recalibrate how we spend our time and what we do for pleasure and relaxation. Our kids are 8 and 10, so they’re old enough to reflect on how screen-free time impacts them, and we as parents look forward to letting it reshape our habits as well!” –Jen Garmon
  • There’s a line between using screens as a supplement to engaging with reality and using screens as a replacement for reality. That’s a line I find myself crossing far too often without meaning to. I think it would be both healthy and productive to counter that tendency in myself!” –Logan O’Hara
  • “It’s a good way to go into summer with a reminder to the whole family that we can do fulfilling things away from screens and they don’t have to be the focus of our entertainment!” –Emily Richard, [email protected]
  • “It is a silent rebellion to Big-Tech that we can dim the blue lights for a week, unplug and play!!! Looking forward to also getting to know my neighbors on a deeper level.”  –Penny Marenge, [email protected] 

Interested participants can pledge, register, and access fun screen-free resources on the Screen-Free Week website. You can also check out the interactive map to see where in the world events are being held – which includes locations as varied as the beaches of San Diego to schools in Romania! Right now, two neighboring counties in Wisconsin have planned 15 Screen-Free Week events, hosting “Comic Book Day,” “Fairytale BINGO at the Library,” “Tree Climbing and Community Clean-Up,” “Shooting Hoops with First Responders,” and much more. These are just a few amazing examples of the countless possibilities for screen-free celebrations!

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