Yates Arts-In-Educations Magnet School

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Yates Arts In Education Magnet School

It’s Lights Out for TV
Yates Principal throws television in the dumpster

Students across the country will celebrate Turnoff TV Week during the week of April 23-29 and Schenectady is no different. To kick off the annual event, Yates Arts-In-Education Magnet School Principal Valarie Scott, with the assistance of two teachers, threw a television into a school dumpster during a school-wide assembly on April 23.

But before the TV became trash, Valarie Buchanan's kindergarteners demonstrated to the rest of the school different activities that can take the place of sitting in front of the tube. The activities included playing ball, jumping rope, reading books, coloring and playing board games.

Yates joined thousands of schools, libraries and community groups worldwide in a coordinated effort to encourage millions of people to turn off their TVs, computers and electronic games for seven days. Turnoff TV Week is a chance to read and be more physically active.

According to The Center for Screen Time Awareness, an international non-profit organization that coordinates Turnoff TV Week, the average American watches more than 4 hours a day and 50 percent of American homes have at least three televisions.

“The purpose of Turnoff Week is to take an extended break from screens that consume so much of our free time. Four hours or more of screen time a day is simply unhealthy for our children, families and communities,” said Scott.

The television, which was broken, was donated by a local electronics repair shop.

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