— Olaf, from the movie “Frozen”

Our kids are planning their summers right now. Sure, they’re still in school learning stuff, taking tests, eating that famous D51 meatloaf, but a significant part of their time is already drifting toward summer — that vast stretch of sunny, schoolless days.

Like our younger selves, they’re imagining devouring books, riding bikes like trusty steeds, making weird snacks, and getting so bored that something interesting happens.

But they’re also imagining something else: binging series, nonstop gaming, and endless scrolling. Like Olaf, they’re drawn to something that looks wonderful, but don’t always see what it might cost them.

We know what happens next. During the long summer months, tech use increases by a lot. And while our kids won’t melt into puddles, they can lose some of the gains we’ve made with personal devices during the school year.

Because during the school year, we’ve already seen something important. For about eight hours a day, students are in learning environments almost entirely without personal devices. And with those boundaries, we see more connection, more focus, and more learning.

Then summer arrives and that structure disappears almost overnight.

Without meaning to, we slide into long stretches of unstructured screen time. Not because anyone is doing something wrong, but because it’s always there, and it’s designed to be hard to step away from.

So here is a simple thought: What if we carried just a piece of that structure into the summer?

Not all day. Not rigidly. But intentionally.

Families might create a “device pause,” a stretch of the day when personal devices are set aside. For some, that might look like our district’s Cellphone Use Policy from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but for others it could mean mornings, weekdays, or just a few protected hours.

And when devices are used, let’s try and keep them where life is happening like on a shared computer, in common spaces, part of conversations instead of something that quietly pulls kids away from them.

The goal isn’t control. It’s to give their minds a break from constant input. Because something interesting happens when that input quiets down. Kids don’t just sit there missing their devices. They move. They reconnect. They get creative.

And the good news is, this doesn’t require a massive change. It might just be one small decision: to keep part of the day open and protected to let summer still be summer.

And while we’re at it, what if we gave them back what might be the very best part of summer?

Summer sleep.

The kind that stretches into the morning with deep sleep, slow waking, tangled blankets, vivid dreams, sunlight already filling the room.

There’s nothing quite like it.

But add an attention-demanding device and that kind of sleep quietly disappears.

How about we start our summer break with a few protected hours during the day, bringing tech into shared spaces like living rooms and kitchen tables, and letting nights be truly device-free.

It’s a simple practice. And it matters. Because like Olaf, we don’t always realize what summer can do until time, sleep, and connection start to melt away.

Elizabeth Clark, LPC, is a mental health therapist for children and their families who has been studying the impacts of technology on children’s development and on families. She has a grant from WCCF that allows her to talk with families about powerful technology use.