Screen Free Week 2023

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It’s the eve of Screen Free Week and I have some questions. I have been a big fan of Screen Free Week for decades, yes, decades, since it was “TV Turn-Off Week” in 1994. The young families who celebrated with me then, in my parent education classroom, have grown children now and some of those grown children are likely to have children of their own.

What I loved about the week then is the reflection and the conversations that happen when good people focus on what is best for children, especially young children. I believe the conversation is more urgent now than it ever has been. We are in a recovery season of a global pandemic that forced us to rearrange our boundaries with our screens in order to work, to attend preschool, to visit with grandma and grandpa, to order groceries and to distract ourselves in uncertain times.

I believe it’s time for a hard reset. Welcome Screen Free Week! Here are some questions to reflect on and to discuss with others, over coffee, in the school drop off line, in your parent education classes or lying in bed with your partner at night. Let’s talk instead of scroll this week.

  • Happy Screen Free Week! How are you celebrating?

  • How has your screen use changed since 2020? For better? For worse?

  • Could you go without your phone for a day?

  • Did the pandemic impact your child’s screen time? How?

  • How does your child react when you try to set screen limits?

  • Do you think it’s important to try?

I know, these are tough. I love my phone. I have named her! She, Kathy Johnson, is my constant companion. I set my firmest boundaries with my phone when I am with my grand babies. Here is a list of suggestions to celebrate Screen Free Week without completely breaking up with your phone. They are tried and true thanks to the hundreds of parents who have shared the conversation with me over the years.

  • Have screen free zones in your home. Start with the dinner table, your child’s bedroom and wherever you find yourself playing or snuggling up.

  • Plug it in and walk away from it. Your screen time will decrease dramatically when you have to move your body to access it.

  • Turn off your notifications when your children are awake.

  • Replace your screen time with other things you love, and used to do more of, like going outside, reading a book, baking cookies, writing notes, listening and dancing to music, organizing a closet, what ever it is you do to play. Say “You are not the boss of me” out loud, to your phone when you feel like you need a quick screen time hit.

  • Go all in on your screen when you put your kids to bed, unless you want another kid, if so, keep it plugged in, in the kitchen.