Digital Curfew: A Partner Walk and a Night-Time Pact

A partner walk at a steadily slower pace, with each lap bringing a question about phones at night and sleep. At the end, each student writes a personal, concrete pact for finals week.

How to play

1. Lap 1 at a normal pace: talk about what time you usually put your phone down and where it charges at night (2 min).
2. Lap 2, slower: what "steals" the most sleep (shows, social media, group chats, late studying) and what happens the next day in class or at practice (2 min).
3. Lap 3, very slow with stops: at each corner of the schoolyard, hold a 20-second stretch (calf, quad, chest, neck) and suggest a screen-free alternative for the last half hour of the day (3 min).
4. The pact: each student writes one concrete rule on a card (a time, where the phone stays, a phone setting like sleep mode) and reads it to their partner only if they want; it goes home with them (3 min).

Rules

• Pace drops every lap; any pair who passes another starts the lap over.
• What's said in the pair stays in the pair.
• The pact is personal: the teacher doesn't collect or grade it.
• Stretch without bouncing or pain.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing student: each lap's question is written on the card, and the partner faces them to help with lip-reading.
• Wheelchair user: covers the same lap with their partner; leg stretches become trunk and arm stretches.
• Student without a phone or who'd rather not talk about theirs: works on TV, gaming or the computer, or on a made-up case.

Learning goals

• Lower heart rate gradually.
• Reflect on the link between screens and sleep.
• Set a concrete, realistic self-regulation goal.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cards: 30
• pencils: 30

Teacher tip

Cut cardstock cards in advance; if you have none, the back page of a notebook works. The usual problem is pairs speeding up while chatting, so set the pace yourself by walking in front on lap 3.

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