One of the biggest challenges that parents have is to find the quality time to spend with their children. Well, here's a letter I recieved from a dear friend who's addressing a major concern for dads as well as mums:

This is an invitation to participate in an international task force conference call for all participants in Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness regional task forces, current and future. We invite you to invite others from your region, or nation, to join us and expand the list for this international call. As most of you know, research shows that obesity, illiteracy, violence and the breakdown of family and community are in part tied to our "addiction" to the myriad screens in our lives.

Many of you know that in September we will introduce Universal Screen-Time Reduction: A lifestyle for the 21st Century (USTR), a comprehensive program that addresses the Screen-Time issue and ways to master technology without becoming a prisoner of it.

This first national conference call will be an introduction to USTR, preparing those who are interested for the official announcements coming up in just a couple of months. We will have people from across the United States and around the world on this call, some from established task forces and others not yet established.

The conference takes place on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 11 AM EST. The call in number and code are as follows:

Call in number (USA) (712) 775-7100
Participant Access Code: 761547#

For more information on CSTA, please visit our website at www.screentime.org or feel free to contact me directly at rkesten@screentime.org or 202-333-9220.

If we are going to even the playing field in our efforts to challenge obesity, violence, illiteracy and pollution, while building functional families in vibrant communities, we must take on the electronic media that bombards us with mind numbing sensationalism, leaving us only more sedentary and solitary than at anytime in human history.

We are NOT opposed to technology or electronic media, games or the like. We are for balance and mastery of these tools, not dependence on them.

I thank you for your consideration and hope to hear from you on or before August 1st on the first official call of this task force.

Sincerely,

Robert Kesten
Executive Director
Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness