Katie Friedman Gives Up Texting! by Tommy Greenwald Page A

Cavemen who gave up their phones, how would they do it? What if it was an emergency? Cell phones are not horrible. They’re incredibly useful. They can even help save lives.”
    â€œYou’re making a good point,” Ms. Kransky said. “You’re just making it the wrong way. One more stunt like that and you’ll be in detention.”
    â€œYes, Ms. Kransky,” Charlie Joe said sweetly.
    Then, incredibly, another phone beeped.
    Nareem’s, of all people.
    He turned red and fumbled for his phone.
    Ms. Kranksy had had enough. “TURN ALL PHONES OFF!”
    â€œSorry,” Nareem mumbled. “My mother sometimes texts to ask me what I’d like for dinner.
    â€œAnd THAT sums up the problem,” Ms. Kransky said. “Charlie Joe is right, phones and texting can be wonderful tools. But that’s lost under all the unnecessary noise and distractions and time wasting they also cause.”
    Jake and I nodded solemnly in agreement.
    â€œThank you, kids,” Ms. Kransky said to us. “You may return to your seats.”
    We sat down.
    â€œAnd I’m sure Charlie Joe apologizes for calling you ‘Cavemen,’” Ms. Kransky added, shaking her head.
    â€œOh, we don’t mind,” Jake said. “We kind of like it, actually.”
    I smiled, adding, “It’s better than being called ‘Phonies.’”

 
    33
    SHOW ME YOUR MOVES
    I’ve always loved recess—who doesn’t?—so I’m really happy we still have it in middle school. The adults say it “helps the students exercise their bodies and exercise their social skills.”
    I don’t know about that, but it’s definitely nice to get outside in the middle of the day.
    You can do whatever you want at recess. Some kids play sports, other kids gossip, a few kids read quietly. It’s usually pretty much a free-for-all, with the boys going one way and the girls going another.
    But that doesn’t mean the boys don’t text the girls the entire time. And vice versa.
    But that week, things were different.
    After a few days, us Cavemen had our recess routine down: head to the far end of the blacktop to hang out. Monday, Celia and Jackie had discovered that they each liked knitting, so they started bringing their stuff to school and knitting matching sweaters for their two favorite teachers to give as end-of-year presents. And on Tuesday, Eliza and I realized that her birthday was the same as my mom’s, and they both loved roller coasters, so we decided to have a big double-birthday bash at Six Flags. (It won’t ever happen—trust me—but it sounded awesome at the time.)
    By Wednesday’s recess, one thing was clear: the Phonies were pretty tired of watching the Cavemen become one big happy family, and they were ready to do something about it.
    I first noticed something was different when I got outside and Pete was hanging out on our side of the blacktop with his obnoxious friend Eric, who I hadn’t liked ever since fourth grade, when I saw him pick his nose and wipe it on the shirt of the girl in front of him (she never noticed, luckily).
    The rest of the Cavemen were hanging back, not sure what to do.
    I went up to Pete. “What are you guys up to?”
    Pete shrugged. “What do you mean, what are we up to?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. “I just thought, you know, like this is usually where we hang out.”
    He smirked. “It’s a free country, last I checked.”
    Then Eric got out his cell phone and punched in a number. “We’re ready,” he said into the phone.
    Suddenly it seemed like the whole grade was running over to the blacktop. They were all holding something over their heads. As they got closer, I could tell what they were.
    Cell phones.
    Timmy and Charlie Joe were in front of everyone else, as they came running up to me and the rest of the Cavemen.
    â€œEverybody ready?”