A Case Study on Reducing Children’s Screen Time: The Project of Screen Free Week

Abstract

The current study aims to direct children to alternative activities within a week period by applying the project of
screen free week to voluntary families. The ultimate aim of the study is to reduce children’s screen time. The
instrumental case study method; one of the qualitative research methods, was employed. Five children attending the
preschool class of an elementary school in the Kartal district of İstanbul and their families voluntarily participating in
the project of screen free week constituted the study group in the current research. Documents and structured
interview form were used to collect data. The document used to collect data is the weekly chart in which the families
noted the activities they performed during the week spent without screen. The structured interview form was
developed by the researcher by reviewing the related literature. Content analysis was conducted on the data collected
in the current research. As a result of the families’ participation in the project of screen free week, they recognized
the importance of family-child interaction, that their children are happier when they spend time with them, that they
can decide on programs to be watched and games to be played together with their children and that this decision
should not be taken as a rule rather as a routine of the family. At the end of the project of screen free week, it was
seen that a great majority of the families set a limit to the time spent in front of the screen suitable for the age and
developmental level of their children. In light of the findings of the current study, it can be suggested that the project
of screen free week should be made more widespread and more families and children should be reached. In addition
to this, training programs can be organized for families to learn how to select quality programs/applications.