Time to unplug during Screen Free Week
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Learning and developing healthy screen habits, getting out in the islands’ wild, reading books, crafting, cooking, away from screen usage has been the goal of Screen Free Week, hosted by the Joyce Soble Family Resource Center for at least the last four years. In conjunction with the National Screen Free Week, events kick off Monday, May 4, with cooking and close Saturday, May 9, with a screen-free party.
“It takes the community, a community narrative to provide support,” FRC Director of Programs Jennifer Allen told the Journal, clarifying that it isn’t that screens are bad; smart fonts, the internet and social media are here and part of the modern world. Studies, however, have shown that unlimited screen time is unhealthy physically, mentally and emotionally. Screen Free Week traces its roots back to 1994, after Henry Labalme and Matt Pawa became concerned that children were spending too much time watching TV and not enough time creatively playing. The two founded TV Turn Off Week. Even the musician Prince commented during an interview that he felt it would be beneficial if people would turn off their TV at least once a week. With the arrival of the internet, social media, smartphones and artificial intelligence, technology has only become more complex and trickier to disentangle from. In response, in 2010, TV Turn Off became Screen Free Week.
According to Tech News World, Americans spend more time on their screens than other countries around the world, at six-and-a-half hours, nearly a third of their day. Screen Time Statistics provided by the FRC state that school-age children spend 6-9 hours per day between screens, including TV, video games, tablets and phones.
Nearly two-thirds bring phones to bed, and close to a third fall asleep with their phones. Screen Time Statistics goes on to state that kids who are on the screen the longest report lower psychological well-being, and “among kids 14-17, high users of screens were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and to have a higher rate of obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosis.”
Emma Jean Carpenter, FRC program specialist, told the Journal that the topic came up in a recent Community Health Youth Survey when responses indicated information on healthy screen habits was needed. Carpenter said this year they will be handing out goody bags packed with fun items, as well as information and helpful resources.
Creating a phone basket in the kitchen, not charging the phone next to the bed and in general setting screen boundaries and sticking to them are some good starting points, Carpenter said. Participants will be given a “Screen Free Bingo” card for fun activity ideas, and of course, to check off as many as possible.
Interested participants should register for some of the activities during the first three days: cooking, get caught reading and bowling, due to limited capacity. Thursday, community reading will take place at the new Joyce Soble Family Resource space on Price Street, Friday will be a nature walk and Saturday is the Screen Free party celebration, also at Price Street. Alchemy Art Center will be there for face painting, Island Literary Verse Collective will be doing poetry readings and several local restaurants will be providing pizza for a blind pizza test.
Because the goal isn’t just about a screen-free week, but building healthy habits, and helping parents feel equipped in these ever-changing times, the second Saturday of every month will be dedicated to screen-free activities.
“There will be things for people of all ages [during Screen Free Week]. We’re hoping to bring the community, families together and unplug,” Allen said.
Learn more about Screen Free Week at https://screenfree.org/about/ and register for the local screen-free events at https://jlsfrc.org/screen-free-week/.
