By Stephanie Vaccaro, Staff Writer
TV-Turnoff Week came early this year for students at Community Park School. The national week, held April 18-24, fell on spring break, so they decided to engage students in the initiative a week early.
Now nationally known as Screen-Free Week, TV-Turnoff Week began in 1994. Numerous studies have examined the adverse effects of prolonged screen time, which have ties to childhood obesity, attention problems and poor school performance. The week is meant to give participants the chance to reconsider their relationship to entertainment media.
For Theresa Chivers, days spent without the electronic glow casting light on the faces of her children are not new. Their family has opted for screen-free Sundays for two years, something they all enjoy.
”While we are accustomed to no screen time on Sundays, switching up our weekday routine was a bit more challenging,” said Ms. Chivers.
Community Park students were asked if they’d like to sign a pledge sheet to participate indicating their abstention from all screen time for five days, and were then asked to illustrate and write about their adventures and submit the finished pieces so they can be displayed at school.
”I let my second grader decide on her own whether to participate with no pressure from me,” said Ms. Chivers. “She didn’t miss a beat, said something about it being for Earth Day, and signed it. Still, both girls moaned and groaned each day. In the end they kept themselves busy. No one was bored.”
”We went to Michael’s and then we made a big mess,” said Ms. Chivers of her two children, Carson, 7, and Julianna, 4. “We also had extra time for reading and playing at the park with friends.”
”While my kids are used to hearing me preach to them about screen time, having a school-sponsored event is good validation that mom is not entirely crazy,” said Ms. Chivers.
Lisa Sarachman’s two children, Mark, 8, and Madeline, 5, also participated.
”In addition to TV, we did not allow computer or video games,” said Ms. Sarachman. “The kids played outside a whole lot more with less TV. They also read books. Of course, sibling rivalry increased with a lot of togetherness. Still, there were good blocks of “quiet,” too, in the house.”
Ms. Sarachman’s children are limited generally limited to a half-hour of television and a half-hour of video games per day, with good behavior.
”At the beginning of the week, they missed some shows they follow,” said Ms. Sarachman. “However, they didn’t even notice or ask about screen time as the days wore on.”
Instead of watching television, her children played baseball, played outside, listened to music, rode bikes, read books, had a play date, did spin art and went to a Princeton High School lacrosse game.
”With a school-sponsored event like this, it drives our point home that too much screen time isn’t a good thing … for anyone really, said Ms. Sarachman. “Cutting TV, computer and video game time from our week, reminded us that we are happiest when we have a variety of things to do. To that end, we look forward to checking out more sporting events at Princeton High School and adding outings to our calendar to Updike Farmstead, Howell Living History Farm and the Princeton Public Library.”

