Submitted by the San Juan Island Family Resource Center

The San Juan Island Library and San Juan Island Family Resource Center will join thousands of schools, libraries and community groups nationwide in a coordinated effort to encourage millions of Americans to turn off televisions, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles for seven days and turn on the world around them. Screen-Free Week runs from April 30-May 6 and is a chance for children to read, play, think, create, be more physically active and to spend more time with friends and family.

On average, preschool children spend over four and a half hours a day consuming screen media, while older children spend over seven hours a day, including multitasking. Excessive screen time is linked to a number of problems for children, including childhood obesity, poor school performance and problems with attention span. Screen-Free Week is coordinated by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a national advocacy organization devoted to reducing the impact of commercialism on children. Since the week’s founding in 1994, it has been celebrated by millions of children and their families worldwide.

Local partners who are sponsoring events for San Juan Island’s Screen-Free Week include: San Juan Island Library, San Juan Island Family Resource Center, Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island Fitness, San Juan County Health and Community Services, Leadership San Juan Islands, Griffin Bay Bookstore, Washington State University Master Gardeners of San Juan Island, American Camp National Park, Islands Museum of Art, The Toy Box and A Place to Play. For more information, visit www.screenfree.org or call SJI Family Resource Center at 360-378-5246 or the San Juan Island Library at 360-378-2798.