television

From April 29-May 5 the City of Swift Current invites you to join thousands of individuals nationwide in turning off televisions, computers and video games for seven days.

While it may seem kind of difficult, and a little crazy, the idea behind it is to get out and discover the joys of life beyond screens.

The City of Swift Current has got behind national screen-free week, and Val Choo Foo, the City's In Motion Coordinator, is hoping to see a lot of interest to expand it more next year, and get people outside and enjoy the simpler things in life.

"When they're in front of the screen they're often not being active, not spending quality time with family, or getting out in nature and exploring the world around them," Choo Foo said, "the average children and youth are spending 6-7 hours in front of the screen per day, and I think there's a lot of other things to be exploring like artistic culture and sport."

Choo Foo also provided some alternatives you can do in the community to avoid being behind a screen.
 
"Obviously in the spring, bringing out the bikes, going to the park, or going for a walk along the Chinook Parkway, there's lots of things to do within the community, whether you want to head over to the tennis courts or the horse shoes, or it can be bringing out the board games, or arts and crafts."

She added screen-free week will be outside of the work and school day, so not to interfere with work, assignments and homework.

If you're interested in getting behind screen-free week, all students were sent home with a pledge sheet, or you can pick yours up from either City Hall, or on swiftcurrentonline.com, and have your pledge sheets returned by May 8th to be entered to win a prize.