Eli says: My parents gave my siblings and me a challenge. If we lock up our phones for the whole summer, we each get $50. I could use the cash! But I’ll miss all the inside jokes on the group chat. When school starts again, I’ll be totally lost! And won’t I be bored without it? What should I do?

Eli says: My parents gave my siblings and me a challenge. If we lock up our phones all summer, we each get $50. I could use the cash! But I’ll miss all the inside jokes on the group chat. When school starts again, I’ll be lost! And won’t I be bored without it? What should I do?  

Eli says: My parents gave my siblings and me a challenge. If we lock up our phones for the whole summer, we each get $50. I could use the cash, but I’ll miss all the inside jokes on the group chat. When school starts again, I’ll be totally lost! And won’t life be boring without my phone? What should I do? 

Chantay says: Lock it up!  

    Remember what life was like before we all got phones? It was kind of nice! So a summer without my phone would definitely be worth $50 to me. I’ve actually been putting my phone away for a few hours every Sunday night. It helps me get my homework done faster, and I fall asleep more easily without it.

    Best of all, I seem to have more time. I’ve been able to get back into things I love doing. I just learned two new songs on the guitar, and I cooked homemade enchiladas! Who knows what cool stuff you could do during a whole phone-free summer?

    It will be harder to keep in touch with everyone for sure. But we’ll just have to make plans to hang out more in person. That’s way more fun than the group chat anyway.

    Here’s an idea: At the end of summer, let’s all go out for ice cream. We’ll catch you up on all the memes you missed. And you can use some of that $50 to buy us extra toppings!

Chantay says: Lock it up!  

    Remember life before we all got phones? It was kind of nice! A summer without my phone would be worth $50 to me. Lately I’ve been putting my phone away for a few hours on Sunday nights. It helps me get my homework done faster. I fall asleep more easily too.

    Best of all, I seem to have more time. I’ve been getting back into things I love doing. I just learned two new songs on the guitar. I cooked homemade enchiladas too! Who knows what cool stuff you could do during a whole phone-free summer?

    Sure, it will be harder to keep in touch with everyone. But we’ll plan to hang out more in person. That’s better than the group chat anyway.

    Here’s an idea: At the end of summer, let’s all go out for ice cream. We’ll catch you up on all the memes you missed. And you can use some of that $50 to buy us extra toppings!

Chantay says: Lock it up!  

    I remember life being kind of nice before we all got phones, so a summer without my phone would definitely be worth $50 to me. I’ve actually been putting my phone away for a few hours every Sunday evening, and I’ve found that the phone-free time helps me complete my homework faster and fall asleep more easily.

    Best of all, I seem to have more time—and I’ve been using it to get back into things I love doing. I just learned two new songs on the guitar, and I cooked homemade enchiladas! Imagine all the amazing stuff you could do during an entire phone-free summer!

    It’ll certainly be more difficult to keep in touch with everyone, but we’ll just have to make plans to hang out more in person. That’s way more fun than the group chat anyway.

    Here’s an idea: At the end of summer, let’s all go out for ice cream. We’ll catch you up on all the memes you missed, and you can use some of that $50 to buy us extra toppings!

Bo says: Keep your phone.

    It would take more than $50 to get me to lock up my phone for a whole summer. I use it for everything. It’s how I keep in touch with my friends from school and my cousins back in China. I also use it to play Genshin Impact, watch Netflix, and read. I would be so bored—and lonely—without it!

    I know adults like to say that phones are ruining our friendships, but I don’t think that’s true. I can talk to my friends anytime I want, no matter where they are. Sending a silly Snapchat or a TikTok is a great way to let them know I’m thinking about them. It’s also how we make plans to hang out in real life.

    If you want money, maybe you could get a summer job mowing lawns or walking dogs. It would probably earn you more than $50, and you can go phone-free while you work. Just a little bit of time without your device will help you be more thoughtful about how you use it. That sounds like a better plan to me!

Bo says: Keep your phone.

    It would take more than $50 to get me to lock up my phone all summer. I use it for everything. It’s how I keep in touch with my friends from school and my cousins back in China. I also use it to play Genshin Impact, watch Netflix, and read. I’d be bored and lonely without it!

    Adults like to say that phones are ruining our friendships, but I don’t agree. I can talk to my friends anytime, no matter where they are. Sending a silly Snapchat or a TikTok is a great way to let them know I’m thinking about them. Plus, it’s how we make plans to hang out in real life.

    If you want money, get a summer job. You can mow lawns or walk dogs. You’ll probably earn more than $50. And you can go phone-free while you work. Just a little time without your phone will help you be more thoughtful about how you use it. That sounds like a better plan to me!

Bo says: Keep your phone.

    It would take more than $50 to persuade me to lock up my phone for an entire summer. I use it for everything: to stay in contact with my friends from school and my cousins back in China, to play Genshin Impact, to watch Netflix, and to read. I’d be incredibly bored—and lonely—without it!

    I know adults like to say that phones are ruining our friendships, but I disagree. My phone allows me to talk to my friends anytime I want, no matter where they are. Sending a silly Snapchat or a TikTok is an excellent way to let them know I’m thinking about them. We also use our phones to arrange to get together in real life.

    If you want money, maybe you could get a summer job mowing lawns or walking dogs. You’d probably end up earning more than $50, and you can go phone-free while you’re working. Just a little bit of time away from your device will help you be more thoughtful about how you use it. That sounds like a better plan to me!