If there’s one thing about high schoolers, it’s that they will always find a way to have fun, and the combination of chronically short attention spans and the infamous phone ban has created the perfect breeding ground for new modes of enjoyment in our school. When first informed of the Yondr situation, among the pressing questions people had was how, throughout the day, students were supposed to have fun. After all, phones provide endless videos, movies, games, and communication. What were they to do? Well, as the phone ban struck, a phenomenon one can only describe as miraculous occurred: people found the fun. It started small with a deck of cards and a small set of poker chips. Then, it grew. The introduction of a speaker on Fridays after advisory continued to nurture the creativity flame. Following this, coloring pages that soon got displayed on the walls of the commons like a kid’s art on a parent’s refrigerator, a donut eating competition with a prize of $100, card throwing that landed a spade in the rafters, and shenanigans that ended up breaking a couch. This, however, is just the beginning. As the year goes on, there’s no doubt that more creativity and initiative will bring new ways to foster fun in the upper school commons.
