Winners
Alvin Su, 15, responded to a Style article from June, “Is It OK for Your Kids to ‘Rot’ All Summer?,” by writing:
At six, I spent summer on a farm, chasing dragonflies and stacking bottle caps into kingdoms. No camps. No schedules. No countdowns. Just cicadas screaming into dusk and our bare feet pressed against hot cement. We called it summer, and it felt like freedom.
Later, summer came with a price. I learned the word enrichment, and July became a checklist. Robotics camps. Leadership programs. STEM intensives. Calendars filled before spring had even ended. But I still remember one rare summer with no plans at all. Just the slow hum of an old fan. At first, I felt unproductive. Then boredom became a window. I read books no one had assigned. I wrote poems that led nowhere. I listened to silence until it bloomed.
That’s why Hannah Seligson’s article “Is It OK for Your Kids to ‘Rot’ All Summer?” stayed with me. Some parents now defend boredom as essential. I do not see rot. I see rest. I see the rare freedom to define time instead of having it defined for you. Some families cannot afford that kind of idleness not by choice, but because doing nothing has become a privilege. Screens replace tree forts. Safety concerns replace wandering. But what if boredom is not a problem to fix, but a skill to teach?
Summer does not need to be a launchpad. Sometimes it is a rooftop. A breeze. A dragonfly resting on your sleeve. Summer should not be a productivity contest. Sometimes it is firefly chasing and popsicle-sticky hands. We just need to leave space and trust for magic to grow wild again.
Runners-Up
Bahiyyih V. on “Israel-Iran Conflict in Photos and Videos”
Chloe Careaga on “Starbucks Has a Pumpkin Spice Latte Problem in China”
Cynthia Qin on “This Elusive Antarctic Squid Was Seen for the First Time”
Dhairya M. on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”
Ellena L. on “How to Be an Artist"
Emma L. on “The Things Only English Can Say”
Jiayi (Iris) Li on “We May Soon Be Telling a Very Different Kind of Story About Dementia”
Kate L. on “How to Be an Artist”
Morgan C. on “The Peacock Chair and the Black Experience”
Olivia on “Our 21 Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes”
Olivia G. on “Why Is Everybody ‘Crashing Out’?”
Ruby L. on “Don’t Pity a Woman Eating Alone”
Sophie T. on a recipe for Zha Jiang Mian
Victoria D. on “What Makes a Food Ultraprocessed?”
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Honorable Mentions
Alexey Pak on “The Surefire Way to Cook Perfect Rice (Without a Rice Cooker)”
Allison P. on “In Singapore, Grandmothers Dive Into Aging With a Splash"
Amy X. on “History is Culinary”
Ashlyn L. on “Looking at a Stranger and Seeing Myself”
Ayaan on “History Is Culinary”
Caris Co on “‘Love on the Spectrum’ Delivers on the Promise of Reality TV”
Chelsea G. on “Let Students Finish the Whole Book. It Could Change Their Lives.”
Dhairya M. on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”
Divyansh on “Why California’s Wildfires Could Be Brutal This Summer”
Erin J. on “School Shooting Suspect Slipped Past Security via Unsecured Door, Police Say”
Fred Z. on “Why California’s Wildfires Could Be Brutal This Summer”
Isaac L. on “Finding God, and Nietzche, in the Hamas Tunnels of Gaza”
Julia D. on “Living to Die Well”
Leah T. on “How to Tackle Your To-Do List if You Struggle with Executive Functioning”
Max Amat on “Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?”
Medha M. on “We Underestimate the Manosphere at Our Peril”
Neil B. on “The Subversive Joy of BookTok”
Pratham F. on “These Waterproof Hiking Sandals Are Ugly. I Love Them Anyway.”
Preston Liu on “How Trump Is Changing FEMA as Hurricane Season Begins”
Samaira Rasul on “It’s Not Just a Feeling: Data Shows Boys and Young Men Are Falling Behind”
Seojun L. on “Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?”
Sylvia on “What to Know About Israel’s Strikes and Iran’s Retaliation”
William C. on “As the Dalai Lama Turns 90, His Exiled Nation Faces a Moment of Truth”
Yan Z. on “My Father Never Escaped His Rage and Anxiety. Can I?”
Yuwei Gao on “I Got $4 a Week in Food Stamps. This Is the Reality of Hunger in America.”
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