Chosen this week from 1,403 submissions. You can read the work of all of our winners since 2017 in this column.
Isabelle Zhang, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y., responded in the video above to an article from the Well section headlined “How to Break Free From Your Phone.”
Ginkgo Chen, 16, of Jericho, N.Y., chose an Opinion essay titled “They Let Their Children Cross the Street, and Now They’re Felons,” and wrote:
When my parents weren’t home, I was. As the oldest sibling, I became my younger brother’s caretaker — teaching him how to microwave his lunch, how to answer the door without opening it, and how to never admit that no adult was around. I still hear the quiet hum of the fridge as we waited together. We weren’t being neglected. We were growing up.
That’s why “They Let Their Children Cross the Street and Now They’re Felons” devastated me. The Jenkinses didn’t neglect their kids. They made one impossible choice in a world with no safe ones. The line that haunted me was: “Just because parents don’t have their eyes on their kids every single second doesn’t mean they are bad parents.”
I live in a suburb where kids can’t get anywhere without a car, and parents are exhausted from endless driving. We’re told to raise independent kids, but the world is built to keep them indoors, glued to screens. Sidewalks are empty, and when a parent finally says yes and lets their child walk to a friend’s house or cross the street alone, tragedy can strike. Instead of grief, society delivers blame and punishment.
This article made me angry — not just for the Jenkinses, but for every kid stuck in this contradiction: expected to grow up but never trusted. When letting a child walk a few blocks becomes a crime, something is seriously wrong. Childhood should be about freedom and trust, not fear and punishment.
Runners-Up
Norah Mendel on “Before You Offer Advice, Ask This Question”
Aeryn B. on “Why More People in the World Are Feeling Hopeful (Except Us)”
Ashley W. on “Trump’s Cultural Revolution Is Just Getting Started”
Dung H. on “They Let Their Children Cross the Street, and Now They’re Felons”
Emma L. on “How to Pick a Good Tomato (and Salvage a Bad One)”
Hongyi L. on “A Bid to Undo a Colonial-Era Wrong Touches a People’s Old Wounds”
Isabel A. on “What Does It Mean to Be Chopped?”
Isabella C. on “Could Dementia Patients Benefit from an A.I Companion?”
Kathy Z. on “Why Dads Take Their Gay Sons to Hooters”
Kehan W. on “Trump ‘s Gaza Plan Reflects Broader Push for Annexation of Palestinian Land”
Khang L. on “North Korea’s Next Leader?”
Leticia K. on “A.I. Is Shedding Enlightenment Values”
Maxwell W. on “How Many Steps Do You Really Need in a Day?”
Minghao L. on “Last Soldiers of an Imperial Army Have a Warning for Young Generations”
Natalie L. on “Are Samosas Unhealthy? Some Indians Find Official Advice Hard to Swallow.”
Nguyễn Tăng Hiền Nhân on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”
Reha Agarwal on “What to Know About the Epstein Files, a Perfect Recipe for Conspiracy Theories”
Sahana P. on “After a Week of Mediocre Economic News, Trump Wants to Fire the Messenger”
Sarah Shin on “Here’s The Science of Why You Doomscroll”
Sharbat on “‘We Hope This Is Enough’: What Was Seen on a Gaza Airdrop Mission”
Tae H. on “It’s Time for That Often Dreaded Task: Buying Back-to-School Supplies”
Tayyaba S. on “How a Soggy Spring and Hot Summer Nights Made 2025 an ‘Exceptional’ Year for Fireflies”
Teo C. on “Trump’s D.C. Police Takeover and National Guard Deployment, Explained”
Viola B. on “Public Schools Try to Sell Themselves as More Students Use Vouchers”
Vivian Z. on “The Gift of Making Yourself Disappear”
Yijia C. on “Coco Gauff Manifested a Grand Slam Title at the French Open. Or Did She?”
Zihan Z. on “A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting Worse”
Honorable Mentions
Adam on “James A. Lovell Jr., Commander of Apollo 13, Is Dead at 97”
Allie B. on “Kids, Inc.”
Angela W. on “A Letter to the Future”
Angelina Z. on “The Gift of Making Yourself Disappear”
Chelsea P. on “How to Stop Asking ‘Are You Mad at Me?’”
Fengqi Y. on “Goodbye, $165,000 Tech Jobs. Student Coders Seek Work at Chipotle”
Grace P. on “For a Change of Pace, Try Running in the Woods”
Hongyi L. on “A Bid to Undo a Colonial-Era Wrong Touches a People’s Old Wounds”
Jack M. on “A Journey Across the New Syria”
Janie P. on “The Surprising Ways That Siblings Shape Our Lives”
Jiyou L. on “A Letter to the Future”
Joey Z. on “He Took My Story, So I Made a New One”
Kamil A. on “80 Years Ago, Nuclear Annihilation Came to Japan”
Kevin on “The World Is Letting Gaza Starve”
Kyle C. on “Congo’s Teens Brave Bombs, Rebels and Abduction to Play Hoops”
Lauren P. on “My Kids Asked for the Benson Boone Cookie. Here Is My Reply.”
Lillie R. on “My Friend’s Children Are Wearing Me Out. Can I Say Something?”
Mia L. on “How Empathy Became a Threat”
Sara R. on “A.I. Is Shedding Enlightenment Values”
Sriram S. “The Gift of Making Yourself Disappear”
Stacy H. on “A Letter to the Future”
Sumedha S. on “A Letter to the Future”
Teo K. on “My Year of Living Blurrily”
Tianle F. on “27 Kid-Approved Summer Adventures”
William C. on “This Evangelical Pastor Wants to Replace Women’s Right to Vote”
Yi (Joseph) Bai on “Do Our Dogs Have Something to Tell the World?”
Yi X. on “Do Certain Tattoos Constitute ‘Stolen Valor’?”
Yuna H. on “The Gift of Making Yourself Disappear”
Zoe on “Maybe It’s Time to Make Peace With Your Smartphone”
In a video, Saanvi Kondoju, 16, from Middleton, Wis., responded to an essay from the Letter of Recommendation column headlined “No One Ever Said My Name Right. Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić Fixed That.”
William Alexis, 16, from Atlanta, chose a transcript of an episode of The Opinions podcast titled “My Gay Son Changed My Understanding of Evangelical Christianity,” and wrote:
Certain things show up in your feed when you’re not ready, but you are. That’s how it felt when I saw the headline: “My Gay Son Changed My Understanding of Evangelical Christianity.”
I read it in my bedroom, fan clicking, a storm sliding in from Alabama. The story was about a pastor and his son, but it kept turning into a mirror. I know that small-town church air, the kind that smells like coffee in styrofoam cups and certainty that doesn’t bend. I know the sermons where sin lists get recited like grocery items, and I know where my name lands in them.
The father in the piece wrote about watching his beliefs split apart, how love took a sledgehammer to the frame and made him start again. I’ve never seen my own father cry about me, not in that way, but I’ve imagined it: his eyes shut tight, a prayer fighting its way out, the moment before a choice.
Sometimes I think about what it would take for him to say the words this pastor eventually did, to see me not as something God forgot to fix, but as something God got right the first time. The thought feels dangerous, like touching an open flame. It also feels warm.
I didn’t expect an article to leave me staring at my ceiling, wondering if people can really change. But this one did. And now, tucked somewhere between hope and self-preservation, I’m holding space for the idea that love could break through here, too.
Runners-Up
Adam J. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Ananya A. on “Trump Is Winning His Trade War. What Will That Mean for the Economy?”
Aritro C. on “He Read (at Least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now Anyone Can See His List.”
Chelsea G. on “Love Letters”
Diep N. on “Is Pilates Political?”
Henry Hudson on “Finding Beauty — In a Constellation of Spiderwebs”
Isabel Amat on “Trump Administration to Require Universities to Submit Data on Applicants’ Race”
Jaeyong P. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”
Jiyou Lee on “How to Do a Perfect Plank”
Natalie K. on “FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show”
Nguyễn Tăng Hiền Nhân on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Nina P. on “Comfort Viewing”
Rainie G. on “Plastic Turf Fields Are Taking Over America”
Saeeun J. on “Saving for College Once Felt Essential. Some Parents Are Rethinking Their Plans.”
Samya Madhukar on “L.A. Firefighters Who Fought Blazes Show Elevated Mercury and Lead Levels”
Seeun L. on “No One Ever Said My Name Right. Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić Fixed That.”
Serena F. on “What Would a Real Friendship With A.I. Look Like? Maybe Like Hers.”
Lilian L. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Xinyue H. on “No One Ever Said My Name Right. Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić Fixed That.”
Xiyuan Z. on “Last Soldiers of an Imperial Army Have a Warning for Young Generations”
Xiyue H. on “Why Tot Celebrity Ms. Rachel Waded Into the Gaza Debate”
Honorable Mentions
Aayan B. on “Inside a Gathering of America’s Growing Home-School Movement”
Aiden K. on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Annie Z. on “Plastic Turf Fields Are Taking Over America”
Anthony on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Avery K. on “Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good”
Cindy on “The Best Advice I’ve Ever Heard for How to Be Happy”
Claire Y. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Eugene H. on “Why Does Every Summer Need to Be the Summer ‘of’ Something?”
Evalyn on “Donations to NPR and PBS Stations Surge After Funding Cuts”
Garrett H. on “How Did Hunger Get So Much Worse in Gaza?”
Hannah L. on “What We Know About the Shooting in Midtown Manhattan”
Helen Z. on “How to Talk to Your Children About Money in These Uncertain Times”
Irene G. on “A Scramble for a Woman, 77, Who Lost Her ‘Forever’ Apartment”
Jayne K. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Jinlin Y. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Khanak on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Krish on “You Are Contaminated”
Rayhana L. on “Do These Jeans Make My Ad Look Racist?”
Shi Yi Y. on “Can You Love a Stranger?”
Sophia (Yanmingrui) Wan on “The Summer Job, a Rite of Passage for Teens, May Be Fading Away”
Weixuan Lai on “An Era of Authenticity (or Something Like It)”
Yi X. on “A.I. May Be the Future, but First It Has to Study Ancient Roman History”
Yongyuan (William) L. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Yuxi Z. on “How to Do a Perfect Plank”
Zee-jay C. on “Anger Over Starvation in Gaza Leaves Israel Increasingly Isolated”
Zixin Y. on “As Consumers Lose Their Appetite, Food Brands Fight to Keep Wall St. Happy”
Viviana Thumm, 15, from Bradenton, Fla., chose an article on cuts to SNAP benefits, part of the domestic policy bill President Trump signed into law on July 4, and wrote:
The article “What Are SNAP Benefits and How Will They Change?” brought back childhood memories I thought I’d forgotten. I remember now. The checkout lines, my mom hissing in my ear, “Swipe the card faster.” I was too young to understand what shame was, but my mom did, and I felt it.
We were on food stamps for most of my childhood. It wasn’t because we were lazy, like politicians claim to excuse these cuts, but because rent was high, her job as a middle-school teacher didn’t pay enough, and we chose between groceries or gas. SNAP wasn’t a handout, it was the difference between starvation or hunger. So when I read that our elected officials are trying to cut access, it was personal.
One line in the article that stood out to me was: “Republicans say the program discourages people from working.” Tell that to my mother, who worked full-time and still had to rely on SNAP to feed her daughter something other than ramen. Or to every other parent who whipped something up from a food bank box, saying “It’s your favorite,” when it wasn’t.
This article reminded me how easy it is to demonize the poor when you’ve never stood in their shoes, or in their line at Dollar Tree. It reminded me that policy matters. People like me grew up knowing what hunger feels like, and now we sit helplessly watching powerful people debate whether we ever needed help at all.
I chose this article because it wasn’t just news to me, it was my life, and I’m not done standing up for people who still live it.
Runners-Up
Allison Zhang on “How Empathy Became a Threat”
Anthony Y. on “A Pro-Trump Community Reckons With Losing a Beloved Immigrant Neighbor”
Anvi J. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
Charles R. on “Can You Love a Stranger?”
Jiaxin X. on “Daniel Kahneman’s Decision: A Debate About Choice in Dying”
Kathy Z. on “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot.”
Komi K. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
Editors’ Picks
Escondido, Calif., a Showcase for Fire-Resilient Building
36 Hours in Jackson Hole
Paint, Pottery and Profitable Leases: Experiential Retail That Works
Leyi Z. on “I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students.”
Peterl S. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”
Pragyan Dahal on “Strong Earthquake Hits Remote Tibet in Western China, Killing Dozens”
Pranav V. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”
Ritvikaa Naveen K. on “My Kids Asked for the Benson Boone Cookie, Here Is My Reply.”
Samaira Rasul on “Why One of the Causes of Falling Birthrates May Be Prosperity”
Serena Ghazarian on “Is She Jazz? Is She Pop? She’s Laufey, and She’s a Phenomenon.”
Sophia Liang on “Do You Hug Your Parents?”
Honorable Mentions
Aiden T. on “The ‘Boy Crisis’ Is Overblown”
Angela S. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”
Atiya T.K. on “Aid Groups Blame Israel’s Gaza Restrictions for ‘Mass Starvation’”
Carla on “A Political Titan in Argentina Is Sentenced to Prison”
Chaebeom Lim on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”
Chelsea G. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
Crystal W. on “Alysa Liu Left Figure Skating at 16. Now She’s Back and in Position for a Major Win”
Dana A. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
Derek C. on “With Labubus and a Cat Cafe, a Shopping Mall Thrives in New York City”
Dingkai W. on “Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed.”
Elizabeth W. on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Evalyn on “Their Superpower? Holding Things.”
Hadley M. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”
Han Y. on “An Era of Authenticity (or Something Like It)”
Hanlin S. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
Hannah L. on “‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Took 7 Years to Make but a Lifetime of Experience”
Hyunseo K. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”
Isaac L. on “Should Teens Vote?”
Jazmin S. on “Should Teens Vote?”
Jennifer L. on “Shooting in Midtown Was New York’s Deadliest in 25 Years”
Jeremy P. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
Jian C. on “Eight Arms to Taste Your Microbiome”
Jieni T. on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”
Justin H. on “What to Know About the Conflict Between Thailand and Cambodia”
Krystal on “There’s a Name for What Trump is Doing. Juan Crow.”
Li Ziyue on “The Coldplay Concert Shame Is Something to Celebrate”
Maya Y. on “Sketched Out: An Illustrator Confronts His Fears About A.I. Art”
Mia T. on “Listen to ‘Hamlet.’ Feel Better.”
Ryan P. on “How an M&M Sparked the Search for the Next Perfect Peanut”
Samantha S. on “This Is Why America Needs Public Media”
Sarah D. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
Sarrah F. on “Finding Beauty at Maximum Discount”
Selene Li on “Finding Beauty at Maximum Discount”
Sophie Ding on “Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship”
Teo C. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”
Youlan Li on “How Do You Self-Identify? For Many Americans, Checking a Box Won’t Do.”
Grady Zheng, 16, from Katy, Texas, chose a roundup of reader responses about grieving rituals from the Well section headlined “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot,” and wrote:
The article, “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot,” totally nailed it. It beautifully shows that grieving isn’t some fancy, one-size-fits-all funeral parade. Sometimes, the wackiest ways we remember those we’ve “lost” are the most perfect. While the article talked about, you know, death, it got me thinking about a different kind of heartbreak: when my buddy AK ditched me for another ZIP code. And for me, processing that separation involved a chaotic, joyful and utterly ridiculous food fight in the middle school cafeteria.
AK was moving away at the end of seventh grade. I needed something that screamed “us” — loud, a little rebellious, disgusting, and definitely a health code violation.
Our “grieving ritual” occurred one day during lunch. AK, ever the mischievous mastermind, nudged me with that glint in his eye. “Throw the banana,” he whispered. A spark ignited. This wasn’t about sadness; it was about one last, epic hurrah.
In short, we had a food fight. The chaos, and inevitable detention, was a small price for that sheer, unadulterated catharsis.
Just like the article pointed out how a trusty fishing pole or an ancient rotary phone can become powerful memory conduits, that food fight became my iconic symbol of AK. When I think of him now, it’s not with a wistful sigh. Instead, I get a vivid mental snapshot of him laughing, covered head-to-toe in doughnut glaze, in the glorious, food-strewn aftermath.
Runners-Up
Eryn L. Rhoads on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”
Anika M. on “Canceling Stephen Colbert Isn’t Funny”
Anjali Kapilavai on “Did the Camera Ever Tell the Truth?”
Anthony on “A Landscape of Death: What’s Left Where Ukraine Invaded Russia”
Archisha P. on “It’s Time to Let Go of ‘African American’”
Caitlin M. on “It’s Time to Let Go of ‘African American’”
Dylan T. K. on “Chess Lover Introduces Game to Malawi’s Prisons, Schools and Street Kids”
Jiaying S. on “How to Travel Without a Phone”
Lena M. on “Is This the Beginning of the End of America’s National Parks?”
Marvin S. on “It’s Paradise Lost as Climate Change Remakes Europe’s Summers”
Minwoo K. on “What Is ‘Aura Farming’? This Tween Will Show You.”
Navya S. on “As Iran Deports a Million Afghans, ‘Where Do We Even Go?’”
Pranav V. on “Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship”
Varchasva S. on “The Streaming Wars Come Down to 2: YouTube vs. Netflix”
William C. on “Be Careful About What You Want”
William W. on “Where Congress’s Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR”
Honorable Mentions
Aaron C. on “The Way You Build Muscle Is the Way You Build a Life”
Alfred L. on “A New Era of Hunger Has Begun”
Allegra M. on “How Trump Deflected MAGA’s Wrath Over Epstein, at Least for Now”
Angela Y. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”
Chaebeom L. on “You Said ‘Yes’ to Being an Organ Donor. What Exactly Does That Mean?”
Cutie Z. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
Dora S. on “U.S. to Review Social Media Posts of Student and Scholar Visa Applicants”
Dung H. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”
Emma H. on “The Love We Leave Behind”
Fatima D. on “How to Bargain Like a Pro in Thai Street Markets”
Fiona L. on “Pregnancy Is Going to Be Even More Dangerous in America”
Grace P. on “As Texas Flood Raged, Camp Mystic Was Left to Fend for Itself”
Hansika G. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”
Ishaan S. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”
Iwan L. on “Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department”
Jack H. on “What to Know About Canada’s Fires as Smoke Drifts South”
Jenny W. on “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot”
Joonwoo P. on “Novak Djokovic, I Was Wrong About You”
Joy K. on “‘Jeopardy!’ Is a Reminder That Facts Are Fun — and Essential”
Justin Yu on “Landslides and Floods Kill 18 in South Korea”
Landon Kai H. on “Trump Tariffs: What’s the Latest on the Trade War?”
Rachel C. on “The Perverse Economics of Assisted Suicide”
Riddhi R. on “The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Rizz’”
Semin J. on “Sharing a Bed With Your Kid? It’s Totally Normal in Asia.”
Seojun L. “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”
Shenzhi Z. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”
Tatum A. on “Trump Hails $90 Billion in A.I. Infrastructure Investments at Pennsylvania Summit”
Valery L. on “Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department”
Xinyue H. on “The Tooth Fairy Is Real. She’s a Dentist in Seattle”
Yi Chien C. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”
Joel Raj, 17, from Metuchen, N.J., chose an article by Yotam Ottolenghi from The New York Times Magazine headlined “Summer Is Delightfully Messy. So Is This Simple Peach Dessert.,” and wrote:
“You’ve got juice in your hair,” my mom would laugh, but at age five, I didn’t care.
My face could’ve passed for a Jackson Pollock painting. The canvas for an abstract expressionist medium: watermelon. I was a small, sticky god of summer. But now, I am a reformed savage, slicing up a piece of pepperoni like a frog in eighth grade biology class.
My original recipe for life was merely pure chaos and joy. Then came the single, traumatic event that soured the whole batch, the Great Taco Catastrophe of sixth grade. There I was, on a first date, trying to look poised while wrangling a carnitas taco that had the structural integrity of a wet paper bag. I went for a civilized bite, and the whole thing imploded. For the next hour, I tried to carry on a conversation about her pet lizard while a piece of pickled onion was basically superglued to my chin.
That was the moment my inner five-year-old went into hiding, and the tall, awkward teenager took over.
So when Yotam Ottolenghi describes that sloppy, beautiful mess of a peach dessert, a dish that offers “total freedom to enjoy,” I hear the call of going back to the original stage of myself. This summer, I will find a peach so ripe and devour it with the kind of chin-dribbling freedom that would make my five-year-old self proud. The paper towel industry is officially on notice!
Runners-Up
Vivian Li on “Why We Mistake the Wholesomeness of Gen Z for Conservatism”
Allen Wu on “Can We Ask a Disabled Woman to Leave Our Pickleball Group?”
Apple M. on “The Lives Lost to the Texas Floods”
Jenny W. on “From Girl Boss to No Boss”
Karen Z. on “My Problem With Superman”
Melody Z. on “What I Learned When I Went Back to My Old Therapist”
________
Honorable Mentions
Kelvin J. Lin on “The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Rizz’”
Anika Khedekar on “Gillian Murphy, a Ballerina With Joy and Aplomb, Steps Down”
Daria S. on “For Family Reunions, Just Walk Down the Hall”
Darian A. on “Trump Shouldn’t Forget the Iranian People”
Ellie W. on “Separated as Toddlers, Raised on Opposite Sides of the World”
Evelyn Zhao on “What Tourists in Martha’s Vineyard Showed Me About Being Indigenous”
Gia Deborah W. on “The Grip That Race and Identity Have on My Students”
Grace Shim on “How Elephants Say They Like Them Apples”
Grace X. on “What (Actually) Brings Teens Joy?”
Henry Benning on “The New Yorker Embraces (Some) Modern Language”
Isabella W. on “Trying to Win at Doing Nothing, With a Crowd Watching”
Jack Riley on “I Can’t Sleep. Now What?”
Ka Ki Cici S. on “When They Don’t Recognize You Anymore”
Kaliopi T. on “Never Quitting ‘Brokeback Mountain’”
Leo C. on “A Lifetime After Fleeing the Nazis, They Tell Their Stories”
Lisa on “What I Learned When I ‘Walked My Age’”
Lu Yutong on “Australia Wants to Bar Children From Social Media. Can It Succeed?”
Myra Dhawan on “A Journey Across the New Syria”
Peixin “Joy” Y. on “Finding Beauty in Midair”
Ruyi L. on “What Teenagers Are Saying About Hugging Their Parents”
Shi Yi Y. on “A New Barbie Wears Blue Polka-Dots, and a Glucose Monitor”
Shuxin Fan on “Chinese University Expels Woman for ‘Improper Contact’ With a Foreigner”
Ayesha Afghan, 16, from Niskayuna, N.Y., responded to a June 27 article from the U.S. section headlined “In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Limits Power of Judges to Block Trump Policies,” and wrote:
My parents are legal immigrants, but growing up in Queens, that didn’t mean much. Everyone around us was “illegal” in some way — overstayed visas, expired documents, and sometimes, no papers at all. Their kids ran through sprinklers, lined up for lunch, knew no other country but this one. I’ve always known the only thing separating me from them were government stamps and a manila folder full of paperwork.
Reading about the Supreme Court limiting nationwide injunctions — allowing Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship to take effect in most states — felt terrifying. This isn’t just a policy debate. It’s a direct threat to the lives of children like the ones I grew up with.
Children who didn’t choose where they were born, or who their parents are. Children who couldn’t tug on their umbilical cord and ask to be delivered “legally.” Children that are welcomed by the Constitution and somehow shunned by the state.
It doesn’t make sense.
The article explains how this ruling could create a “patchwork system” across states, meaning your ZIP code might decide if you’re a citizen. That’s not democracy. That’s roulette. We call it birthright for a reason. Not privilege. Not permission. Right. When courts stay silent and power moves unchecked, that right turns into a lottery. And the kids I grew up with — the ones who call this country home just like you and I — are the ones left losing.
Editor’s note: On July 10, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its executive order ending birthright citizenship after certifying a lawsuit as a class action, effectively the only way he could impose such a far-reaching limit after the Supreme Court ruling last month.
Runners-Up
In alphabetical order by the writer’s first name.
Allison Zagroba on “Who Wants a BlackBerry? Apparently, Gen Z.”
Chloe C. on “They Planned Parties and Salsa Music for July 4th. ICE Raids Made Them Think Twice.”
Chloe L. on “I Let My Parents Down to Set Myself Free”
Emma L. on “When Novels Mattered”
Grace C. on “Tate-Pilled Boys Are a Problem for Schools”
Helen Z. on “Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?”
Jessie L. on “The Last Words of a Dying Glacier”
Krupa P. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
Kylie Zhang on “Each Person Has a Unique ‘Breath Print,’ Scientists Find”
Leo C. on “As Trump and Kennedy Reach Into Family Life, Will They Face Blowback?”
Lila K. on “Where Kids Put Down Their Phones and Pick Up the Correct Fork”
Matthew on “The Things Only English Can Say”
Mehar A. on “The Prada Sandal That Led to Cries of Cultural Theft in India”
Minwoo Kim on “Umbrellas Optional? East Asia’s Monsoon Rains Are No Longer a Sure Thing”
Yuki W. on “The Best Relationship Advice We’ve Heard So Far This Year”
Yun A. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
________
Honorable Mentions
Adrian L. on “I Let My Parents Down to Set Myself Free”
Aleksandra A. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
Anfeng X. on “Carney’s ‘Build, Baby, Build’ Faces Pushback From Indigenous Groups”
Anika Khedekar on “The Creativity Challenge: Day 3: Master the Art of Daydreaming”
Anna X. on “The Summer Job, a Rite of Passage for Teens, May Be Fading Away”
Aritro C. on “Justices Let Parents Opt Children Out of Classes With L.G.B.T.Q. Storybooks”
Bennett H. on “Georgia Man Sentenced to 475 Years for Dogfighting”
Bokeun Seo on “T.S.A. Officially Tells Fliers They Can Keep Their Shoes On”
Caden Z. on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”
Cayden S. “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”
Charlotte N. on “The Best Relationship Advice We’ve Heard So Far This Year”
Claire K. on “The Joy of Swimming with Strangers”
Cynthia L. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
Ethan L. on “Scenes From Deadly Disaster in Central Texas”
HeeSoo C. on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”
Ilanna B. on “In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Limits Power of Judges to Block Trump Policies”
Isabella W. on “Here Is the Science of Why You Doomscroll”
Jieni T. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
Lalie Lours on “Love Letters”
Linny S. on “Cézanne and the Hard Facts of Time”
Max Hung Nguyen on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”
Milly X. on “A.I. Videos Have Never Been Better. Can You Tell What’s Real?”
Mobina B. on “Israel-Iran Conflict”
Muai L. on “What Reading 5,000 Pages About a Single Family Taught Me About America”
Nathanial M. on “There’s a Race to Power the Future. China Is Pulling Away.”
Nina P. on “Oasis Reunites, Its Songs Still Stomping and Wounds Still Healing”
Olivia L. on “Florida Builds ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades”
Rickey Z. on “Jacques Pépin: History Is Culinary”
Rachel Chen on “Can We See Our Future in China’s Cameras?”
Sarah Ren on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”
Sean Feng on “We Cannot Escape History”
Seoyeon K. on “2 Firefighters Killed in Idaho Sniper Ambush”
Vivian M. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”
Ziqiao Z. on “Illness Took My Mother’s Independence, but It Gave Us Something Precious”
