Article From the April 8th 2010 Issue of the Valley Press


Local businesses and schools to inspire kids to be creative during National Turn Off TV Week

By Sloan Brewster

A week sans TV is meant as a way to inspire children to read, create and discover the great outdoors.

In Avon, there will be two such weeks.

National Turn OFF TV Week is a nationwide event from April 19-25. CreativeWorks for Children in Avon will participate with a variety of events designed to keep children away from television, computers and video games. Then a week later, from April 30 to May 7, a committee of the Pine Grove Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization will sponsor and encourage activities during what it calls Break Free of TV week.

In a television addicted society, where more and more children are becoming overweight and obese, getting kids off the sofa to perform enjoyable physical activity is not only fun but crucial, said Pine Grove Co-Chair Lisa Alessio. What's more, it forces children to use the creative and intellectual minds.

"You know how a lot of times people think that children, they really don't know how to do other things," said Alessio. "I've really found when it's off and you really say no TV, no computer, that they really seek out and discover things."

Alessio has three children and has participated in the Break Free of TV Week in past years and will do so again this year. She realizes that there are exceptions to the no TV, computer rule, however, she said, including parents who use the computer for work, and children who must complete homework on a computer.

In many cases, people also rely on television news to see what is going on out in the world, which is also understandable, she said. As for her, she listens to the news on the car radio.

Jennifer Vitkauskas of Avon pans to participate in both weeks with her sons Justin, 6 and Joseph, 4.

During National Turn Off TV Week she will bring the boys to CreativeWorks, where she said they already enjoy going for fun learning experiences.

But turning the television off is no big deal in her home, she said, as the family does not watch it too much, especially on weeknights when there is no TV watching at all.

"Actually, we very rarely turn the television on to begin with, so it's not really a big thing for us," Vitkauskas said. "I believe that too many people rely too much on television, and it's easy to rely on it."

There was a point when she herself used the TV as a pseudo babysitter, plopping down the children in front of the set while she completed necessary chores such as taking a shower. But as they grew a bit older, she recognized the need for them to learn to keep themselves busy and not just melt into oblivion in front of their favorite show.

"Right now, I feel that my kids are at a stage where they can entertain themselves," she said. "They don't need the television to entertain them.

Still, Vitkauskas will take it to the next level during the national and local TV free weeks by engrossing the boys in activities in the hope that they find new and interesting leisure pursuits.

"It's a week full of activities," she said of the Pine Grove week. "Some of the criticism has been that we don't need to over schedule kids."

But Vitkauskas wants there to be a wide variety of things for children to do, not just keep their minds off television, computers and video games, but to give them choices-choices she hopes will develop into long term hobbies.

"Kids can entertain themselves and learn in the process, and hobbies are invaluable," she said. "They can build self-esteem and awareness."

During the nation week, Vitkauskas will join the boys in activities at CreativeWorks such as letterboxing, which involves hiking in search of boxes hidden in the woods and then stamping a notebook with stamps inside the boxes. Each stamp serves as an indicator a hiker found a particular box in a specific location.

"That sounds like it would be a great experience for them," Vitkauskas said. CreativeWorks for Children is tucked away behind the Avon Police Station in a restored barn. Activities during Turn Off TV Week will include letterboxing, a Suburban Safari, jewelry making, nature crafts and natural treasure collecting. Certain programs will be free of charge.

"It's been growing every year and all the different communities have been trying different things to encourage families to turn off their TV's and video games as well," said Director Angela Antonelli.

Pine Grove Elementary School Librarian Susan McCabe organizes many events during Break Free of TV Week including a pajama story hour at the Avon Public Library and reading incentives for students.

"Because kids are so glued to screens, it's so isolating," McCabe said. "We really have tried to make it a family week and try to get them away from the TV."

Other Pine Grove activities include a program with storyteller and author Odds Bodkin, a program with a musician, a Lego contest, hiking at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton and along the Farmington River Trail, family bingo night, meeting at Sycamore Park for unstructured fun, a martial arts demo, classes in such things as cartooning, hip hop, chess, jewelry making, dodge ball, mad science and more.

"We try to hit all the different things," said Committee Co-Chair Penny Coppen. "We try to do things that girls like, that boys like."



For further reading on the subject of the importance of getting children "unplugged" a great book is Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv.