Click! CaptionsON is a new national reading campaign that educates families and schools to leave closed captioning (subtitles) ON during screen time to boost reading skills. Kids see the action, hear the words, see the words appear in the text at the bottom of the screen, and read along to improve literacy skills while still having fun and enjoying screen time.
The Campaign launches by mailing over 3,500 Click! CaptionsON Reading Kits to educate families on the benefits of closed captioning. To follow is a coordinated social media campaign featuring video testimonials from “I am Caption.Cool” Literacy Champions – staunch advocates of literacy and lovers of reading who support the Click! CaptionsON campaign; improving reading skills when reading scores are at an all-time low and screen time is increasing exponentially. Click here to view C.C Literacy Champion’s video: Cassie Barlow: President of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education.
Captions are free and easy to use when not reading books – making joining the Caption.Cool campaign a win- win for kids, parents, and teachers. Virtually all shows are captioned, including YouTube, Netflix, Disney, and games like Fortnite. “The sad reality is that 65% of American children are not proficient in reading, and with COVID-19 restrictions, kids are ‘glued’ to screens 5,6,7 hours a day. Screen time is increasing, and reading skills are shrinking!” said Leib Lurie, Caption.Cool Founder and CEO of #KidsReadNow, which has mailed over one million books. “Students need to read at least one hour a day to improve their literacy skills, which are essential to succeed in all aspects of life.” adds Barbara Lurie, former Reading Teacher and #KidsReadNow and Caption.Cool Co-Founder.
Click! CaptionsON is very visible in the community due to Huntington Billboards’ generous donation of 15 billboards to increase community awareness and campaign visibility. Generous funding from ‘By The Hand Foundation’ and the Miami Valley Foundation has laid the foundation for a pioneering year in literacy!
