Friday, April 26, 2013

Unplug & Read: Screen Free Week with Random House


UNPLUG & READ is set to kick off on Monday! This incredibly awesome challenge is one readers of all ages can take part in. If you're part of the "young at heart" group, like I am, you'll probably laugh that now a days we have to have an UNPLUG & READ challenge. When I was growing up there was nothing to be plugged into except the outdoors and reading.

When I was growing up, playing outside was fun, using your imagination was even better, and reading was the best! That meant card board boxes and sofa cushions became castles and forts, we became super heroes and everything and anything was possible. We learned about the world around us from playing in it. Each day was an adventure that brought new discoveries. Reading fueled the endless possiblities that our imaginations could conjour up. Through reading we discovered new places, were introduced us to new friends, and realizee that sometimes we're not "the only one."

To me reading always has been, and always will be empowering.

 Reading teaches us, drives us, expands our horizons, motivates us, and allows our imaginations to soar. Sometimes while reading we're taking on grand adventures, introduced to new friends, and a connect with a story on a level we never thought possible. Some stories make us laugh, cry, sigh, enlighten us, motivate us to do more, make us realize we're not alone, and for some, reading is a refuge from life. It's a security, a safe haven to escape to for a bit, and other times reading helps it's reader find their voice they thought they'd lost long ago.

Reading takes us out of the crazy rush that life always throws at us. In reading, even for just a few minutes a day, we can step back, relax, and open our minds to the vast possibilities, and endless opportunities that await us in between the pages of a good book. 

I am so thrilled to be apart of this week's UNPLUG & READ blog tour hosted by Random House. Let me tell you a little bit more about SCREEN FREE WEEK, which kicks off on Monday April 29th & ends on May 5th:

What Is Screen Free Week?
Imagine going about your day without the trappings of screen media: no phones, computers, tablets, televisions. Preschoolers today spend as much as 4.1 to 4.6 hours per day on one screen or another. Including multi-tasking, children 8 to 18 spend 7.5 hours per day with screens. This Spring, Random House Children’s Books is issuing a challenge: UNPLUG & READ during Screen Free Week April 29 – May 5.

Inspired by Dan Yaccarino’s Doug Unplugged (On sale February 12, 2013) about a robot who discovers that the real world trumps the virtual, we are launching Random House Unplugs: A Screen Free Week promotion.  We are committed to supporting teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents in their efforts to encourage children to UNPLUG & READ during Screen Free Week from April 29 – May 5.

Screen Free Week is the annual celebration from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) that encourages turning off screens and turning on life.  CCFC’s Screen Free Week is a creative response to growing public health concerns about the unprecedented time children spend with entertainment screen media—television, computers, video games, and smart phones. Studies show that Preschoolers spend as much as 4.1 to 4.6 hours per day using screen media. Including multi-tasking, children 8 to 18 spend 7.5 hours per day with screens. Unplugging for one week provides an opportunity to reset media habits, establishing a healthy, sustainable tradition of media consumption in households and schools.



Will you join the challenge?

1 comment:

  1. Wow. Those numbers are staggering!Pre-schoolers at over four hours per day. Unbelievable. Thanks for getting the word out.

    ReplyDelete

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~