11th Annual TV Turn-off Week: Switch off your Televison, Video Games and Internet

TV-Turnoff Network is a national nonprofit organization that encourages children and adults to watch much less television in order to promote healthier lives and communities.

This year marks the eleventh annual TV-Turnoff Week celebration. In 2004, an estimated 7.6 million children and adults participated in over 19,000 organized Turnoffs in every state in the US. TV-Turnoff Week 2005 will start from April 25 – May 1, 2005 and will have its largest international participation yet.

CNET reports
Child-health experts are increasingly pointing to computers, along with televisions, as the culprits behind a national obesity epidemic among children. They also worry about the effect long hours at the computer may have on kids’ social skills, grades and general well-being.

Kids between the ages of eight and 18 spend an average of nearly 6.5 hours each day, or 44.5 hours each week, using computers, watching television and playing video games, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. The study, released in March, also indicates kids are spending an hour more each day with video games and computers than they did five years ago.

National TV-Turnoff Week from April 25 – May 1, 2005 also calls for families to abstain from television, video games and the Internet. Eight million people are expected to participate. Are you participating?