Mission

PC-Turnoff Organization was founded to make parents aware of the risks associated with excessive computer use by their children, and provide information to help guide them. While the computer is a wonderful tool, like many things in children's lives, limits must be set for their own safety and well being. PC-Turnoff established PC-Turnoff Week to encourage parents to turnoff their children's computer for one whole week during the summer. We also encourage parents to limit excessive use by their children throughout the year as well. [read more]

PC-Turnoff Week 2007

The date for this years PC-Turnoff Week has been set. Put it on your calendars. It will be Monday June 25th through Sunday July 1st. Will you join us in encouraging kids to turn off their computers for a week to play outside, read books, and engage in other creative activities with other human beings, face-to-face?

On CNN tonight...

According to the editor's note on this article, this might be an interesting show to watch on CNN:

Tonight, learn how kids' obsession with their electronic gadgets is seriously affecting family life on "Anderson Cooper 360°," 10 p.m. ET

Sorry for the short notice! I just found out about it myself!

Date Set for PC-Turnoff Week 2006

The date for this years PC-Turnoff Week has been set. Put it on your calendars. It will be Monday June 26th through Sunday July 2nd.

We chose this week for a couple of reasons. First of all, most kids will be into their summer vacations at this point. School has wrapped up and the sun will be shining. This week is also soon enough in the summer vacation that schools can actively promote it to students and parents through flyers and end-of-school-year newsletters.

Last year we held it the first week in August. We received many comments suggesting that people would be able to promote it easier if it was during the school year instead of the summer. It's a bit tougher to shut off the computers entirely for a week during the school year. So we see the last week in June as a good compromise. Schools can still promote it even though it happens during the Summer vacation, when kids really need to stay off the computers and get outside.

Will you join us in encouraging kids to turn off their computers for a week to play outside, read books, and engage in other creative activities with other human beings, face-to-face?

Watch this space for news and updates. We'll be updating our promotional materials as well very shortly.

PC-Turnoff Week 2005 a Big Success!

The first annual PC-Turnoff Week officially ended August 7th. By any measure, it was a big success! We had very positive feedback from everyone we spoke with about the week.

Folks in the media, including newsprint, TV, radio and web, did a great job of helping us spread the word. Representatives of PC-Turnoff were heard or seen on over 15 radio and TV segments. The newsprint numbered in the hundreds, and a Google search of "pc-turnoff" yielded 18,500 web site hits at its peak! It was covered in numerous countries around the world, in many different languages.

Thank you to all that supported and participated in the event. Please tell us about your family's experience in our forum. And remember, it's not just about this one week. It's about a balanced, healthy lifestyle for our children, and that includes setting limits on computer use throughout the year. Please continue to visit our web site for news during the entire year.

Today Begins PC-Turnoff Week 2005!

Today is the day - the start of PC-Turnoff Week 2005! We've had a very positive response to this event leading up to this point. Of the millions we've reached, I hope many are participating by encouraging their children to stay off the computer this week, up to and including August 7th.

Please visit our forum and tell us about your experiences during the week. Of course, that would be the parents visiting this week, not the kids since they'll be off the computer! :-) However, after the week is over, we would love to hear from the kids that participated and have them tell us about their week as well.

So here's to a good, healthy, balanced experience during PC-Turnoff Week 2005.

Compare This

Here is an interesting statistic that I just came across:

Employed fathers spend an average of 2.3 hours per day caring for and doing things with their children and employed mothers spend 3.2 hours per day with their children.

Now compare that with the 6 hours and 21 minutes per day average that Generation M kids are spending with computers, video games, TV, MP3 players, etc.

5 days until PC-Turnoff Week

What are you going to do instead of being on the computer?

People need to "rediscover the off button"

At a high-tech conference in the UK, a speaker suggests that people need to unplug and slow down in a world that was stuck in fast-forward, reports the BBC in "Time to switch off and slow down".

Across the world, people are slowing down, and they are finding that they "eat better, make love better, exercise better, work better".

And Mr Honoré told a crowd flush with technology that they needed to rediscover the off button.

We found this article through the Question Technology blog.

Only 16 days left 'til PC-Turnoff Week!

Countdown To PC-Turnoff

Ruth from the Richmond Branch of the San Francisco Public Library is the first to write us to point out that our poster doesn't include... of all things... an icon to representing reading as an alternative activity.

Yes, the team that designed the poster, despite being novices at designing posters, is quite embarassed for the oversite, and we noticed it only after receiving shipment of the thousands of posters that we ordered.

So I've begged Ruth for her forgiveness and I do appreciate that she pointed it out to us in a polite way. :-)

Oh... By the way, there are only 24 days left until PC-Turnoff Week!

101 Things To Do This Summer

Need some inspiration of things to do this summer? We received this tip from Mary Acunzo.

101 Things To Do This Summer offers a lot of variety in activities, from simple activities to larger endeavors that can become lifelong hobbies. Some can be done indoors and rely on imagination, while others stress outdoors exploration or community service. All of the suggestions are accompanied by links for more information on getting started with that activity. What a great resource!

I think there is more in that list than I can possibly do in one summer. Have fun!