Screen-Free Week

Fri Feb 4 13:58:46 UTC 2011

On April 18-24, children around the world will celebrate Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff) by turning off televisions, computers, and video games and turning on the world around them.   Given the links between excessive screen time, and poor school performance I am hoping that your organizations or institutions will support, promote, and participate in the week.

On average, preschool children spend over four and a half hours a day consuming screen media [1], while older children spend over 7 hours a day [2].  Excessive screen time is linked to a number of problems for children, including childhood obesity [3], poor school performance [4], attention span issues [5], and psychological difficulties [6].  And it's primarily through screens that children are exposed to harmful marketing [7].  That's why interventions like Screen-Free Week - which get children actively playing with peers and spending quality time with their families - are more important than ever.  Reduced screen time can help prevent childhood obesity [8] and lead to better school and health outcomes [9].

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is proud to be the new official home of Screen-Free Week.  When TV-Turnoff's former home, the Center for Screen Time Awareness, closed its doors, the board unanimously chose CCFC to continue their important work of helping families discover alternatives to screen time.  At its heart, Screen-Free Week has always been a collaborative effort that relies on the endorsement of prominent organizations. There are a number of ways to get involved in this year's week; please check what you are willing to do.

___ Please list my organization (me) as an official endorser of Screen-Free Week 2011

___ I (or someone from my organization) will give a quote in support of Screen-Free Week to be used in promotional and press materials.

___ We will include information about Screen-Free Week in an e-blast or newsletter to our constituents.  (CCFC is happy to provide text for any announcements).

___ We will promote Screen-Free Week to our constituents on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Please let me know by February 17 if your organization is willing to be an active participant in this year's Screen-Free Week.  And if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  For more information about participation please visit www.screenfree.org<http://www.screenfree.org/>.

Sincerely,

Susan Linn

Susan Linn, Ed.D., is Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Contact Information:
CCFC
Non-Profit Center
89 South Street, Suite 403
Boston, MA 02111
617-896-9370
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/

[1] The Nielsen Company (2009).  TV viewing among kids at an eight-year
 high.  Retrieved July 19, 2010 from
 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/tv-viewing-among-kids-at-an-eight-year- high/<http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/tv-viewing-among-kids-at-an-eight-year-%20high/>.
 [2] Rideout, V.J., Foehr, U.G., Roberts, D.F. (2010). Generation M2:
 Media in the lives of 8- to 18-Year Olds.  Kaiser Family Foundation.
 [3] Danner, FW. A national longitudinal study of the association of
 hours of TV viewing and the trajectory of BMI growth among U.S.
 children.(2008). Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 33(10), 1100-1107.
 [4] Pagani, L, Fitzpatrick, C, Barnett, TA, & Dubow, E. (2010).
 Prospective associations between early childhood television exposure and
 academic, psychosocial, and physical well-being by middle childhood.
 Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 164(5), 425-431.
 [5] Swing, EL,Gentile DA, Anderson CA, Walsh DA. (2010). Television and
 video game exposure and the development of attention problems.
 Pediatrics. 126(2), 214-221.
 [6] Page, AS, Cooper, AR, Griew, P, Jago, R. (2010). Children's screen
 viewing is related to psychological difficulties irrespective of
 physical activity. Pediatrics. 126(5), 1011-1017.
 [7] Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Economics Staff Report. (2007,
 June 1). Children's Exposure to TV Advertising in 1977 and 2004. Holt,
 DJ, Ippolito, PM, Desrochers, DM & Kelley, CR, p.9.
 [8] Epstein LH, Roemmich JN, Robinson JL, Paluch RA, Winiewicz DD,
 Fuerch JH, Robinson TN. (2008).  A Randomized trial of the effects of
 reducing television viewing and computer use on body mass index in young
 children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 162(3):239-45.
 [9] Mistry KB, Minkovitz CS, Strobino, DM, Borzekowski, DLG. (2007).
 Children's television exposure and behavioral and social outcomes at 5.5
 years: Does timing of exposure matter? Pediatrics, 120, 762-769.

________________________________

Susan Linn, Ed.D., is Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Contact Information:

CCFC

Non-Profit Center

89 South Street, Suite 405

Boston, MA 02111

617-896-9370

www.commercialfreechildhood.org

-----Original Message-----
From: info-childes at googlegroups.com [mailto:info-childes at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nick Riches
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 10:01 AM
To: Info-CHILDES
Subject: Postgraduate funding at the University of Newcastle

POSTGRADUATE FUNDING, CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE

SCIENCES (CRiLLS), NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY

CRiLLS  is currently advertising the following studentships in

linguistics for 2011 entry

*     AHRC MA studentship (MA Linguistics and Language Acquisition; MA

English Language and Linguistics; MA Linguistics of European

Languages; MLitt Linguistics) - deadline 2 March

*     ESRC studentships (Applied Linguistics; Clinical Linguistics;

Sociolinguistics; Language Acquisition/Bilingualism) - deadline 25

March

*     Additionally, a range of bursaries covering most areas of

linguistics are available in the Schools of: Modern Languages; English

Literature, Language and Linguistics; Education, Communication and

Language Sciences

For further information about the awards and the Centre for Research

in Linguistics and Language Sciences, see our webpages:

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/linguistics/

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/linguistics/postgrad/funding.htm

or contact Prof. Florence Myles, Director of CRiLLS

(Florence.Myles at newcastle.ac.uk)

For further information regarding the ESRC studentships, see:

http://www.dur.ac.uk/socialsciences.health/postgraduate/funding/esrc/

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