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By Karla Pomeroy
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Third annual screen-free week starts Monday

 

September 6, 2018



WORLAND — Last year 60 students spent 16-20 hours screen-free as a way to get away from their electronic devices and spend more actual time with family and friends.

Screen-free week is a program through Washakie County Public Health that started three years ago. Public Health Nurse Manager Amanda Heinemeyer said, “The ultimate goal of the program is for students to decrease screen time and have more family time. It’s a chance for children and adults to power down and reconnect with each other and world around them.”

She said the program is open to children ages 3 through eighth grade and will run Sept. 10-14 this year in Worland. She said every child who participates and completes the screen-free week passport will get a “screen-free Warrior” T-shirt.

She said passports will be sent home to every Worland student in kindergarten through fifth grade. Worland Middle School students interested in participating can pick up a passport at the office. Area preschools will also have passports to send home with children, Heinemeyer said.

The passport has five spots for stickers. Children are encouraged to spend the time next week off of their electronic devices, that includes television, video games, smartphones, tablets and computers.

They are encouraged to spend the time exploring Worland and getting a “sticker” each night for the passports. Stickers are available at the city parks (with the council Tuesday night approving a motion to allow the stickers at the parks). They are also available at the Washakie County Library, Washakie Museum and Cultural Center, Worland Aquatic Center, fishing pond, Hurricane Lanes and the Worland Community Center.

There is a “free night” where youth and family are encouraged to do screen-free activities at home, rather than venturing out for a sticker. Screen-free activities can include painting, writing letters, playing cards or board games, making a craft, playing charades, taking a drive, organize a scavenger hunt, playing outdoor games, drawing with sidewalk chart, visiting residents at the nursing home or reading.

Passports can be turned in following screen-free week at the school the child attends or the Washakie County Public Health office. Students who turn in completed passports will be entered into a drawing for various prizes, including the grand prize of a bicycle from Larsen’s Bicycles

Screen-free week runs Sept. 10-14 and passports must be turned in by Thursday, Sept. 20.

The class that turns in the most passports will win a pizza party, Heinemeyer said.

Heinemeyer said this year’s passports will also have a survey so they have more data to determine how the week is influencing youth and adults.

Questions include how much screen time does your child have during a week? How much time during a week does your child spend on a physical activity?

This year is the first year that we will be evaluating with a survey on the back of the passport to provide more definitive data.

Expenses for the week are paid for through a Maternal Child Health grant.

 
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