ULI & FI Launches Power Down Campaign
Campaign Urgues Parents to Monitor the Over usage of Technology for Children
(Baltimore, Md.) Today, the Raising Him Alone Campaign and Urban Leadership are officially launching the Power Down Campaign! Power Down is a campaign focused on teaching parents strategies and coaching them to become better monitors of the technology used by their children. Parents who closely monitor and limit the time their child/teen spends playing video games, watching TV and surfing the Internet increase the likelihood that their child/teen will spend more time engaged in socially redeeming activities. Those activities will likely include arts and crafts, homework and other educational exercises.
According to Kenneth Braswell, CEO of Father’s Incorporated, “”Our children are spending an increasing amount of time consuming information through forms of technology without adult supervision. If for no other reason; the Power Down campaign can be used as a gauge to expose how adults and their children are affected by the use of social and traditional media.”
With the rapidly increasing popularity of reality television, millions of children and teens are exposed daily to a new brand of television that highlights a variety of anti-social behaviors including fighting, excessive cursing, drug use, underage drinking and sexually illicit escapades. While some reality shows promote real competition and chances to win everything from recording contracts to chef positions at exclusive restaurants, the majority of them distort images of healthy lifestyles. A few negative examples include “Jersey Shore,” “Teen Moms,” “16 and Pregnant,” “Bad Girls” and “Intervention”. And let’s not forget long-running cable networks like HBO, BET, MTV and VH1 that continue airing raunchy music videos and less-than-questionable sitcoms.
The Power Down Campaign, through its Parents’ Responsible Media Guide developed by David Miller, co-founder of Urban Leadership Institute, is asking families to participate in a “Technology Fast”. The goal of the “Technology Fast” is to get parents to turn off the TV and not allow their children to participate in technology over the weekend. In other words, during the “Technology Fast” parents should not allow their children to surf the Internet, use their cell phones, watch television, play video games, send text messages or engage in social media including Facebook and Twitter. Within the Parents Guide are suggested activities to help parents plan a technology-free weekend. Parents, the “Technology Fast” is not intended to punish your children or force them to have a boring weekend. Instead, it’s designed to bring your family together while supporting you as you encourage your children to do without technology for a weekend while your family participates in fun, educational activities.
Officials of Raising Him Alone, Urban Leadership Institute & Father’s Incorporated ask parents to support our effort by participating in a “Technology Fast” during the following four weekends:
November 4-6, 2011
March 2-4, 2012
June 1-3, 2012
September 7-9, 2012
For more information on the Power Down Campaign, please visit us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=506411249&story_fbid=10150340527471250#!/pages/Power-Down-Technology-Fast/271325816222244?sk=wall
To download information about the Power Down Campaign, please visit www.raisinghimalone.com/powerdown or www.urbanleadershipinstitute.com/powerdown