Usually when someone walks into McDonald’s they expect to walk out with something to eat, not a baby.
But for new mom Alandria Worthy, that’s exactly what happened. Worthy was on her way to the hospital but needed to use the bathroom so she had her fiancé make a pit stop at McDonald’s.
After a few minutes of Worthy being in the bathroom, workers heard the mom to be screaming which prompted Tunisia Woodward, the manager on duty to check things out. The her surprise, she was about to turn into a labor and delivery nurse.
Woodward explained in an interview with 11 Alive that she saw feet under the stall door before saying, “I opened, and she was on this toilet lying back, screaming. Then I knew to tell my crew, ‘We’re having a baby today.’” Woodward was right, the baby was coming and the three moms are duty were there to help.
If you’re wondering where Worthy’s fiancé was, he was waiting in the parking lot growing concerned. When he went to see what was taking so long, he walked in on a surprise and had to get right to work in order to catch his baby. Deandre Phillips told 11 Alive that Worthy was frantic so he was focused on getting her to breathe and to lay down on the floor so she could deliver the baby, which only took a few minutes and three pushes.
Talk about a fast delivery, though I’m sure they likely would’ve preferred a fast pizza delivery and not a baby so eager to see the world that making it to the hospital was out of the question. But what do I know, watch the new parents tell you all about their new “Little Nugget” themselves below.
An Operation Smile volunteer reverses an oxygen mask so a child with a cleft condition can blow a bubble for the first time in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Operation Smile Photos)
For thousands of children born with cleft conditions, Operation Smile provides simple, playful tools—like bubbles—to strengthen the skills they need to speak and thrive.
While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care.
As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age.
Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference.
Lilia at age 1, before surgery, and at age 5, 4 years post-surgery
Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem
Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers.
Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive.
Marie, 11 months, with her mother at Operation Smile Madagascar before her cleft surgery (Operation Smile Photos)
A Playful (and Powerful) Solution
Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish.
Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety.
Milagros Rojas, a volunteer speech therapist in Peru, using bubbles in a screening with a patient. (Operation Smile Photos)
In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients.
Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.
Bubbles at Home and Beyond
Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.
CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today.
British singer-songwriter Dylan Holloway, who performs as Dylan and the Moon, has been wowing audiences with his voice for quite some time. But what makes Holloway especially unique is that he also charmed crowds before identifying as male. While Holloway had long wrestled with his gender identity, he transitioned from female to male during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some might say they never look back, Holloway chooses to look back with love and gratitude for his former self.
In a recent clip posted to Holloway’s Instagram page, he shows his followers a split screen. On the left is Dylan presenting as female, with blonde curls and soprano notes. That side is labeled “2018.” On the right is modern-day Dylan, now presenting as male, shirtless and tattooed, marked “2026.” To the song “Kiss Me,” he harmonizes with his former self, and it’s absolutely pitch-perfect.
At the top of the clip, he writes, “Singing with my past self…trans duet.” Holloway adds in the comments:
“A duet with my past self. I make these videos because it brings me joy to embrace my entire journey & it helps me spread love to others who may wish to do the same… I’m proud of who I am & the unique art I can make because of it … whoever you are, whatever your journey, you are wonderful & deserve love for your whole self too.”
Fans in the comment section were equally loving and seemingly in awe:
“You were and are a beautiful person, with a lot of charisma, musically and a beautiful voice. In both interpretations. Gifted! I’m impressed.”
“I see a talented musician who is proud of his story and who loves himself, as he should.”
Sixpence None the Richer
As for the song? The year was 1998. The band Sixpence None the Richer had taken American radio stations by storm with their sweet, melodic single “Kiss Me” from their self-titled album, released a year earlier. Its lyrics are pretty straightforward, though some could call them a tad bossy. The singer would like a gentleman to kiss her “behind the bearded barley. Nightly, behind the green, green grass. Swing, swing. Swing the spinning step. You’ll wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.” Holloway nails every note.
Back in 2012, Holloway became a sensation while competing on Britain’s The X Factor, where he ended up as a finalist in a band called MK1. More recently, he compiled clips from the show featuring his former self singing beautifully then and just as purely now as a man.
In an interview with DIVA Magazine, Holloway described his time on the show:
“MK1 ended up at the finals on national television, which was such a turning point in my life. Until then I had just been a little androgynous kid from Newquay with a secret inside me, and now I was a rapper in an urban band on telly. But everyone knew me as someone I wasn’t, and I felt like a caricature of myself. Eventually, after a few years, these feelings bubbled to the surface and I couldn’t continue to be this person everyone thought I was, so I drifted and started releasing my own music under the name Lots Holloway.”
When asked what it’s like singing with his former self, Holloway seemed to feel at peace:
“It’s actually such a wonderful experience to look at them now. I think a lot of transgender people find there’s a pressure, whether they put that on themselves or it is external pressure, to eliminate the person you once were when you become someone new. Now I’m the person I am today, I look back at old footage of myself with this new compassion and love. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for that brave, resilient, and bold soul that was brave enough to come out.”
Alongside his career as a musician, Holloway also speaks professionally about mental health advocacy and LGBTQ rights. On the Raise the Bar website, where he is listed as one of its motivational speakers, the organization shares the importance of these side-by-side videos: “In posting these videos, he spreads the message that it is okay to accept your old self, as it is all part of the journey that makes you who you are now.”
Upworthy spoke with Holloway, who shared how he feels about transitioning and music in general.
“For awhile, I thought I had to leave that version of myself behind. But over time, I realised there was something really beautiful about letting both versions of me exist together,” he said. “So instead of erasing my past, I started creating duets with old vocal recordings and videos I had. Almost like having a conversation across time with younger me. So healing. How many people ever have that opportunity? I want other people to know it’s okay to embrace who you are – the whole story.”
He says his favorite duet so far is “Yellow” by Coldplay.
“This song came out when I was growing up and confused about myself,” he said. “I recorded it on a rooftop in 2018. Then went back to the same place in 2026 to film again, totally free and transitioned. And the merging of those two people together, to me, is beautiful. I love how the lyrics mean something totally different in this context. ‘Your skin and bones turn into something beautiful. I swam across. I jumped across for you. You know I love you so.’ All of it.”
He added, “My dream is that Coldplay will see it and see how much their song helped heal me. And one day, we will play it together with the old version of me projected behind us to sing it too. In a huge stadium, of course. I want to spread the message of acceptance and love as far as we can.”
“Traditional songwriting” is where he draws most of his influence: “People who tell stories. People who write to move others. Dolly Parton, David Bowie, Coldplay, Paul Simon, Tracy Chapman. Iconic.”
He plans to keep telling those stories.
“I’m a totally independent artist, and this year, I’m creating an album in public and allowing my fans to make decisions along the way,” he said. “I make one bit of content a day and release one song a month. Eventually, it will all come together into an album. And my fans will know they helped bring it to life. So everyone is welcome to come and get involved!”
Holloway is also releasing a documentary later this year that shares more of his story. “It shows an up close and personal journey of my transition from the lens of being a singer who risked losing their voice,” he said.
Prom season is officially here, and the teens receiving care at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital dressed to the nines for the 2026 St. Jude Teen Formal. On May 1, more than 60 teen patients took part in a night of dancing, limo rides, and more at the Domino’s Event Center on the hospital’s campus in Memphis, Tennessee.
The night had a special theme: On Cloud 9. It was inspired by the hospital’s partner, country singer Megan Moroney, who recently released a new album titled Cloud 9.
“It gives us all a hope to just be normal and to just have an amazing time,” attendee and St. Jude patient Presli told Upworthy.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients walk the red carpet for the the annual Teen Formal on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude helps their patient enjoy milestones such as the end of the school year tradition for high school students.
Patients get glammed up
Presli was one of many young women who had the opportunity to have their hair and makeup done for the event thanks to St. Jude volunteers. Attendees were also provided with wardrobes for the evening.
“It’s just overwhelming seeing her coming out of that limo and walking that red carpet,” Presli’s mom told Upworthy. “She had so much confidence.”
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients walk the red carpet for the the annual Teen Formal on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude helps their patient enjoy milestones such as the end of the school year tradition for high school students.
Guests invited by patients also got the star treatment. Moroney surprised attendees as they got ready with a special video dedicated to them, honoring their bravery and encouraging them to live it up.
No prom experience would be complete without a limo ride, and attendees got to roll up to the event in style. Once they arrived, a red carpet welcomed them alongside cheering volunteers.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients walk the red carpet for the the annual Teen Formal on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude helps their patient enjoy milestones such as the end of the school year tradition for high school students.
Rolling out the red carpet
The teens each had their time to shine as they strolled down the red carpet. It was also a moment that reminded attendee Dalton not to lose hope during his health battle.
“No matter what you’re going through there’s always a way for you to push through,” Dalton told Upworthy.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients walk the red carpet for the the annual Teen Formal on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude helps their patient enjoy milestones such as the end of the school year tradition for high school students.
For the teens’ families, the annual event is also a reminder of normalcy.
“To me, it represents hope,” Dalton’s mom told Upworthy. “It’s something that we can look forward to and know that each year they can forget about all their worries. They can just be children.”
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients walk the red carpet for the the annual Teen Formal on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude helps their patient enjoy milestones such as the end of the school year tradition for high school students.
Inside the venue, they stepped into a “Cloud 9” dream. Cloud-themed decor covered the entire space, complete with cotton-trimmed porticos and metallic streamers. Guests first enjoyed a sit-down dinner.
Afterwards, it was time to bust a move under a cloud-covered dance floor. Hits spun from the DJ, and the teens danced all night. The event’s coordinator, Kenny, shared some behind-the-scenes looks at the event on TikTok:
She explained that each attendee also got to visit a gifting suite, where they could personalize a bird keychain with their name. Once finished, they could take the keychain over to a wall where they were able to hang it on a dove that lifted it to the “sky” before returning with a swag bag full of goodies.
“I wanted to make the whole night a really memorable experience for our teens,” she shared in the video. “And I think they all loved it!”
Being on a plane can be a nuisance on its own, but when there is an unruly passenger, it goes from an annoyance to a potential danger. On a Jet2 flight, a passenger was so belligerently drunk and rude to the staff that the plane was going to be diverted. Then hope arrived in the form of an eight-year-old soccer fan.
Phoenix Rose and his father were cutting their vacation in Turkey short. They had to catch a flight home to Manchester due to a family emergency. During the flight, a passenger had too much to drink before boarding. She even had her open bottle of whiskey confiscated. This caused the irate passenger to disrupt the flight, shouting and swearing at the flight attendants. The passenger became so unruly that the flight attendants made an announcement: The flight would be diverted to remove her from the plane.
And a child would lead them
Phoenix was desperate to get home to deal with his family emergency. He didn’t want the flight to be diverted and cause a delay. On a whim, he asked a flight attendant if he could sit next to the angry passenger. He asked for only 30 seconds.
The flight attendants gave Phoenix a chance. They switched his seat to one next to the unruly passenger. And it worked.
“He just took all the control,” James, Phoenix’s father, told BelfastLive. “Phoenix, he got his cards out, he started singing to her this Dance Monkey song.”
“She’s screaming, she’s shouting, she’s still being irate. And he starts singing to her, he starts talking about his football to her, talking about her family, asking her about her kids,” James told BBC News. “I’m sort of sat there in the end and I’m thinking to myself, thank god that Phoenix is with me because if he wasn’t, I don’t think I would have been able to handle it.”
Knowingly or instinctively, Phoenix practiced effective de-escalation techniques while talking to the passenger. This included finding common ground, listening to her talk about her family, and using several other strategies.
Phoenix even calmly reminded her of the consequences. He told the passenger that she could be arrested if she couldn’t calm down, but quickly encouraged her to talk about her kids.
For three and a half hours, Phoenix chatted with the passenger. They discussed his love of soccer, his YouTube channel, and their families. Phoenix also showed her his trading cards of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. An eight-year-old accomplished what a plane full of adults struggled to do.
After the plane landed at its destination, the pilot and flight attendants thanked Phoenix for preventing a forced flight diversion. That would have been costly for both the airline and the passengers in terms of time and money. The passenger was taken into custody by authorities.
A spokesperson for Jet2 thanked Phoenix and rewarded him and his dad with free flight vouchers.
A little bit of kindness and the wisdom of a young kid were all it took to ease an intense and volatile situation.
When we talk about someone having a “terminal illness,” we generally mean an incurable, progressive disease that will eventually end someone’s life. Advanced cancer, end-stage heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and many other diseases are widely accepted as terminal in modern medicine.
Most medical institutions don’t include mental illnesses in that category either, for understandable ethical reasons. But as actor Martin Short shares from firsthand experience, viewing treatment-resistant mental illness as “terminal” can help families process the loss of a loved one to suicide.
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Short compared losing his 42-year-old daughter, Katherine, to suicide in 2026 with losing his wife, Nancy, to cancer in 2010.
“You know, it’s been a nightmare for the family,” Short said when asked what he wanted to share about Katherine’s death. “But the understanding that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases. And sometimes with diseases, they are terminal. And my daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she could until she couldn’t. So Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go.’ And she was just saying, ‘Dad, let me go.’”
Adding nuance to the “suicide is preventable” conversation
Short is speaking a hard truth that goes against the unequivocal messaging that suicide is preventable. As with so many human realities, conversations about mental health and suicide require nuance. Those who have seen a loved one through every available treatment, medication, therapy, and program, only to lose them to suicide after trying everything, play an important role in that conversation.
We understand that many deaths from cancer and heart disease are preventable, but not all are. While mental illness may not be directly comparable to those diseases, the reality is that some illnesses, both physical and mental, resist even the best and most effective treatments.
So glad this is going viral, someone I knew in college lost his mental health battle and his parents described it as a terminal illness at his memorial and it really opened my eyes and helped me accept mental illness. https://t.co/nTs5bJpPNn
As Sophia Laurenzi shared in her Time essay, “The Problem With Saying Suicide Is Preventable,” the blanket message that suicide can be prevented places an unfair burden on individuals and families.
Acknowledging the complex reality of suicide prevention
“Though well-intentioned, the truth is that not all suicides can be stopped, even with the best efforts,” Laurenzi wrote. “But right after my father’s death, everywhere I looked I read that suicide is preventable. This instilled an immediate, unconscious conviction in me of a double failure: my father, who had not done enough to save himself, and those of us who loved him most, who had not done enough, either. Collectively we could have deterred his death. But we did not.”
This feeling of failure and guilt prompted Laurenzi to dive deeply into suicide education and advocacy. That deep dive led her to the conclusion that while suicide prevention efforts are important, so is acknowledging the complex reality that a 100% success rate on that front is not currently possible.
“The crux of the issue with blanketing suicide as something that can be stopped is that it flattens one of the most confounding psychological, medical, and philosophical questions of being human into something simpler than its reality,” she wrote. “Perhaps one day we will be able to say that, with the right blueprint, suicide is preventable. But we do not have the knowledge, let alone the resources, to make that true now.”
“Maybe by sharing your pain, you will help other people’s pain”: After losing his daughter, Katherine, to suicide earlier this year, Martin Short told Tracy Smith about why he isn’t hiding his grief. pic.twitter.com/SQHvnEnt5u
To be clear, acknowledging that suicide isn’t always preventable is not the same as saying suicide is inevitable. Most suicides are preventable, and people should absolutely exhaust all preventative measures and possibilities. Knowing typical warning signs, having access to mental health treatment, limiting access to firearms and other highly lethal methods, and following other best practices are vital to giving someone the best chance of surviving a suicidal mental illness.
Keeping hope in the balance
Acknowledging that mental illness can be “terminal” also doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have hope. Many illnesses that used to be terminal diagnoses—HIV, cholera, and more—are now totally survivable thanks to advances in medicine. Just because some people’s mental illness resists all known treatments now doesn’t mean we won’t find more effective treatments in the future. Most mental illnesses, even many serious ones, are currently treatable.
— Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (@HIPRC) November 18, 2020
But in some cases, for some people, having all the access in the world to resources, support, and treatment may not be enough. Just as doctors can exhaust all treatments for physical illnesses, people can also exhaust all treatments for mental illnesses. That doesn’t mean anyone should ever give up hope or stop trying. It means that families and friends who did everything they could, and who knew their loved one fought as long and hard as they were able to, can find peace in understanding that their loved one who died by suicide was dealing with a terminal, treatment-resistant illness that ultimately took their life.
Short shared that he’s gotten involved with Bring Change to Mind, an organization started by actress Glenn Close, which he said is “taking mental health out of the shadows.”
“Not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word ‘suicide,’ but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” said Short. “That’s my approach to this.”
Jackie Kirwan was understandably devastated when her 33-year-old daughter, Georgie Peterson, died from a fatal seizure. However, because Georgie was an organ donor, her hand was transplanted onto quadruple amputee Kim Smith. Now Jackie gets to hold her daughter’s hand every time Kim comes to visit.
When Jackie first met Kim and held the hand that once belonged to her daughter, she remarked to BBC News, “There’s a little piece of her still there.”
Georgie’s parting gift
In 2017, Kim contracted a urinary tract infection that led to sepsis. To survive, she was forced to have all four of her limbs amputated in 2018. After a failed double-hand transplant, Kim had to learn to live without hands or feet—until she got a call in 2025 about a possible donor. That donor was Jackie daughter, Georgie.
Ever since she was young, Georgie suffered from Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia (PVNH), a condition that causes uncontrolled epilepsy. Throughout her life, she treated PVNH with medication, but nothing truly worked. Although Georgie underwent brain surgery to address PVNH, the condition ultimately took her life.
While Georgie had signed up to be a donor, permission from the family was still needed for limb donation. Jackie knew that Georgie wouldn’t hesitate to donate a part of herself to help someone else, despite the two never having discussed donating hands, feet, or other limbs. In an interview with This Morning, Jackie said, “If you’re giving heart, liver, lungs, why not help somebody?”
Shortly after Georgie’s passing, Kim was prepped for the transplant. It was a success.
After the procedure, Kim reached out to Jackie. She wrote a letter thanking both Jackie and her daughter for the incredible gift of a hand. Kim also expressed interest in meeting Jackie in person to thank her if she was interested. Jackie accepted.
Upon first meeting, Jackie was afraid to ask if she could hold her daughter’s hand again. After all, her daughter’s hand now belonged to Kim. However, Kim wanted to meet Jackie for that very reason. Now, whenever the two visit, Jackie has permission to hold Georgie’s hand.
Thanks to Georgie, Kim is now able to hold her five-year-old granddaughter’s hand, along with performing several other day-to-day tasks and activities. Because of the mobility in Georgie’s hand, Kim is able to keep the fingers on her new hand straight, something that isn’t common with hand transplants.
A call for advocacy
Today, the two women have become advocates for organ donation and other causes. Jackie wants to raise awareness of PVNH and support further research into the condition that took Georgie’s life. Kim is also an advocate for sepsis research to improve early diagnosis and treatment.
While Georgie is no longer with us, her impact lives on—not just through the hand now attached to Kim’s wrist, but also through the example she set for how we can improve lives even after we are gone.
Gen Z, born approximately between 1997 and 2010, is referred to by some as “Generation Text.” They were the first group of teens, alongside some younger Millennials, to grow up with cell phones, social media, and texting already part of everyday life by the time they reached age 12. For older Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers, our teen years—even into our early twenties—were free of cell phones, texting, and social media.
Sure, no matter the generation, most teens and young adults experience some form of anxiety. But being tethered to a screen while the brain is still in its formative years has added an extra layer of stress for some members of Gen Z. The good news is that Gen Z is doing something about it.
According to The Washington Post, students at New York University have been ditching their phones for a little time off. On the paper’s Instagram post, they explain how it works:
“At the gate, guests slipped their phones into little cloth bags, putting them away for the evening. More than 200 students from New York University gathered at a table nearly as long as the city block. It was cold, but they leaned in to talk with strangers, laughing and trading stories.
Instead of the socializing that American college culture is known for, many students walk around campus looking down at their phones, scroll through elevator rides, and sit in classrooms glued to their laptops.
Many college leaders are concerned about the amount of time students spend on screens and social media, worried that it is increasing isolation, loneliness, and anxiety, shattering attention spans, and preventing social connections.
New York University is one of the places trying to change that, with a global effort that they’re calling NYU IRL — or NYU ‘in real life.’”
Slows down doomscrolling
These phone-free parties can be an excellent way to stop doomscrolling and perhaps even improve mental health. (Of course, people of all generations might benefit from putting their phones away for a bit.)
There’s a growing phone-free movement among young people – but they’re not letting that stop them from having fun. USA TODAY youth mental health reporter Rachel Hale (@rachelhalereporting) went to a phone-free party in Brooklyn. A flyer for the party promised “a celebration of social life as it’s meant to be: free from the grip of greedy tech platforms.” It was nothing like she expected. But by the end of the night, she had talked to more strangers at this party than she had in the past month – and stayed there until nearly 2 a.m. 📸: Alyssa Goldberg/USA TODAY #phonefree#brooklyn#genz#parties
Eventbrite has been monitoring parties and events and reports that these IRL gatherings are becoming more common worldwide:
“Phone-free events grew 567% globally between 2024 and 2025, with attendance rising 121%, expanding from 5 to 12 countries. These events now span the full calendar year, signaling a shift from temporary reset to sustained behavior. The momentum is most pronounced in the U.S. and U.K., though each market reflects a distinct pattern of growth.”
In the United States, those gatherings are rising as well. Eventbrite reveals, “While event volume grew by 388%, attendance jumped by 913%, as creators transitioned to larger, communal experiences where average event sizes more than doubled.”
And it might look different depending on where you live. The research also suggests that, in Denver, a phone-free night could take place on a “packed dance floor.” But across the pond in England, the phones are still switched off, though the activity is much calmer: “Guests hand over their phones and settle into two uninterrupted hours with a book. With soft music, a glass of wine or herbal tea, and a simple grazing box, it’s a form of ‘soft socializing,’ where presence takes precedence over performance.”
Breathe in, breathe out
In a first-person piece for USA Today, Rachel Hale describes her experience at a phone-free party after locking her cell phone in a small pouch.
“Around 11 p.m., someone ushers me outside to the patio,” Hale explained. “A girl in Doc Martens, a white chiffon scarf, and a plaid coat guides us through a somatic ritual. We place our hands on our hearts. ‘This is the first piece of technology we ever owned,’ says Amalia Mayorga, the ritual organizer. ‘Breathe in, breathe out.’”
That seems to be the purpose: breathing, staying present, and taking just a little time off.
Hale also told CBS News that she believes there’s a “fear that there’s going to be a photo that’s going to end up of me online tomorrow. Or I can not dance as freely because it might be recorded. But it’s more than just that. It’s also that having this social barrier kind of lowered makes it easier for people to talk to strangers or approach friends they haven’t seen in awhile.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson contributed endless wisdom through his essays and poetry during his lifetime. He lived from 1803 to 1882.
The New England author is still revered today for his insights on humanity—so much so that he continues to influence pop culture. The video game Mortal Kombat 3 re-popularized a famous Emerson quote: “There is no knowledge that is not power.”
Emerson was also the father of four children, and his 19th-century parenting advice is still relevant today.
Emerson’s kids
Emerson’s first marriage was to a woman named Ellen Louisa Tucker in September 1829. She suffered from tuberculosis and, unfortunately, died less than two years later in February 1831. Devastated by her death, Emerson wrote this short poem in 1833:
“The days pass over me And I am still the same The Aroma of my life is gone Like the flower with which it came.“
He married for a second time in September 1835 to Lidian (Lydia) Jackson. The couple went on to have four children: Waldo, born in 1836; Ellen, born in 1839; Edith, born in 1841; and Edward Waldo, born in 1844.
Emerson was a devoted father. His son, Edward Waldo, wrote of his father: “He had a love and tenderness for very small children, and his skill in taking and handling a baby was in remarkable contrast to his awkwardness with animals and tools.”
He also had a close relationship with his second child, Ellen Tucker Emerson. She was equally devoted to her father and never married. Instead, she served as his secretary and editor, as well as his housekeeper and caregiver.
Emerson’s parenting advice
In a letter to Ellen dated 1854, Emerson shared fatherly wisdom that encouraged her to move on from mistakes and live confidently. It’s advice that parents today may still find applicable when trying to instill confidence in their children.
“Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. To-morrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day for all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.”
Emerson acknowledges that his daughter will make mistakes, but encourages her not to dwell on them for too long. Each day is a “new day,” and she can move forward with confidence without needing to be perfect.
Tips on raising confident kids
Parents can help their kids process mistakes and move forward without relying on the pressures of achievement and perfectionism. The American Psychological Association (APA) explains that this sense of being valued and supported is called “mattering.”
Mattering is defined as “the feeling of being valued to loved ones and communities, regardless of external evaluations of ‘success’.”
To strengthen a sense of mattering, the APA recommends that parents try the following:
Spend engaged time with kids
The goal is to send kids the message that their worth is based on who they are, not what they do. Flett recommends that parents put away their phones and laptops during interactions to encourage better engagement and listening, helping kids feel heard and understood.
Normalize setbacks
This can be done by explaining to kids that mistakes are part of being human and that your love for them is not contingent on never making them.
“As soon as you make those things contingent on achievement, which is very easy to do in this culture, then kids start to learn very quickly that they’re only really worth something when they’ve done well, and they are a failure if they haven’t,” Thomas Curran, PhD, a social psychologist at the London School of Economics and author of The Perfection Trap, explained to the APA. “That creates a dependency on other people’s approval, which is a very quick way to perfectionism.”
Serve others
According to the APA, volunteering has been studied as a helpful way to build resilience and self-esteem while reducing the pressures of achievement. By focusing on the well-being of others, kids can also develop a stronger sense of usefulness and purpose.
“I would recommend to any parent who’s concerned about a child becoming a workaholic perfectionist who’s only focused on achievement [to] try to model going out there and being prosocial and finding some causes,” Flett said.
Many people delight in logic puzzles and the brain challenge they offer. But one of the most studied logic tests has proven persistently befuddling for people across the board.
Developed in 1966, the Wason Selection Task has a high failure rate despite its seeming simplicity. According to Michael Stevens of VSauce, studies have shown that somewhere between 90% and 96% of people are unable to come up with the correct answer.
What exactly is this test? There are various versions of it, but let’s look at the original one that Peter Wason created.
You have four cards in front of you labeled A, G, 7, and 8, like this:
Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Your task is to determine which cards you would need to turn over to judge whether the following rule is true: If there is an A on one side, there is a 7 on the other.
That’s it. Sounds simple enough, right? Then you start working your way through the reasoning, and your brain starts to feel a bit sticky.
Even a Cambridge math professor had to backtrack on the test
Hannah Fry, a British mathematician and University of Cambridge professor, went through this task with Stevens on their joint YouTube channel, The Rest Is Science. Fry said she had encountered a version of the test before and gotten it wrong the first time, but she didn’t remember what trap she had fallen into or why.
This time, she walked through the logic aloud and figured it out. (If you want to try solving it yourself, go for it. Spoilers are below.)
Here’s how Fry worked through the problem in real time:
“So, right, you know that these four cards, a letter on one side, a number on the other, which means that there is a number hiding behind the A, there’s a number hiding behind the G. There’s also a letter behind the 7, and there’s a letter behind the 8.
The rule says if there is (this is what I’m trying to test) if there is an A on one side, there is a 7 on the other. Right? So, turning over the 8 doesn’t tell me anything. I mean, I don’t really care what’s on the other side of the 8 because even if it’s an A…”
Then Fry stopped herself.
“Uh oh, no, wait. That’s not true. Oh, hold on. I’ve got it wrong already.”
She recalibrated.
“Immediately, the first thing you want to do is check whether there’s a 7 on the reverse of the A. To see if there’s a 7. Turning over the G, I don’t think tells me anything because I don’t really care what’s on the reverse of the G. The rule doesn’t involve G’s. It says if there is an A on one side, which there isn’t, so I don’t care. So, I can ignore the G card.
The 7 card I’d be really tempted to turn over to see if there was an A on the other side, because then that would be another instance of the rule. But the way the rule is phrased is that it says if there is an A on one side, there is a 7 on the other. It doesn’t say you can only have sevens where A’s exist. So actually, you could have a J on the other side of the 7, and it wouldn’t violate the rule. That would be fine.
So, even though my temptation is to say turn over A and 7, actually, I think you need to turn over A and 8. Because if you turn over 8 and it’s got an A on the other side, that would violate the rule, right?”
Bingo. You would turn over the A and 8. Fry was correct. But even this Cambridge math professor, who had seen a version of the logic test before, stumbled through it a bit.
Changing the letters and numbers to a story about drinking changes the failure rate
Stevens then asked Fry how she would approach a different version of the task. Instead of letters and numbers, the cards show the ages of different people on one side and what they are drinking at a bar on the other. This version of the task includes a “human” storytelling element.
“Once again, you have four cards,” said Stevens. “And you are a police officer, and it’s your job to make sure that no one is drinking underage. On some of these cards, you can only see their age. You’re going to have to turn them over to see what they’re drinking. On others, you only see what they’re drinking. You’ll have to turn them over to get their age.
A social rule-oriented version of the Wason Selective Test. Photo credit: Canva
This is what you see in front of you, these four cards: The age 12, the age 35, the drink soda, and the drink beer. Which ones do you need to turn over to determine whether or not the rule is being obeyed that you cannot drink underage?”
The answer is the same as before: the first and last cards. But this task feels much easier than the first. As Stevens and Fry said, “It’s instinctive.”
Making the test about people and a potentially broken social rule makes the task much less abstract. But it also makes it clear that the puzzler needs to do something key to solving the letters-and-numbers version as well: look for a counterexample.
A counterexample is something that would disprove the rule. In the first task example above, if the 8 has the letter A behind it, the “If A, then 7” rule would be disproven. And that’s the only card that could possibly disprove the rule.
In the drinking-age version, we instinctively look for the counterexample, most likely because it’s socially ingrained in us to look for someone breaking the rule. It’s the same logic, but we have a better natural sense of how to figure it out when it involves a human story that taps into the way we naturally think. Few of us naturally think as abstractly as the first version requires without some training in logical deduction.
If you’re interested in diving deeply into the logic details, the full video does just that. But isn’t it fun to see how a small tweak shows us we’re a lot smarter than we thought?
