This Post: 12 Things Teenagers Secretly Love About Summer (That Have Nothing to Do with Screens)
Co-Written By: Marybeth Bock & Nancy Reynolds
School is finally out, and our kids’ summer break is here. What a relief, right? Well, if we’re being honest here, a lot of parents secretly dread the thought of their teen being home for weeks on end – especially teens who are still too young to land a summer job. There’s always that lingering question a lot of parents have:
What is my teen going to do with all their free time?
Will they spend most of their days in their room? Will they binge-watch Netflix day in and day out? Will screens take over? And if we set time limits on their screens, do we risk daily whining and endless complaints of, “I’m bored?”
The truth is, you might just be pleasantly surprised…
12 Things Teenagers Secretly Love About Summer
(That Have Nothing to Do with Screens)
The truth is, a lot of teens are starting to realize that being on their phones all day isn’t nearly as fun as it used to be. They’ve grown up hearing conversations about mental health, anxiety, burnout, and screen addiction, and many of them are surprisingly aware that endless scrolling isn’t necessarily making them happier.
Sure, they still love their phones. (That will likely never change.) But many teens are also beginning to recognize how exhausting it feels to spend hours bouncing from TikTok to Instagram to YouTube, only to look up and realize that half the day has passed. They’re craving something different, even if they don’t always outwardly admit it.
In fact, most teenagers genuinely enjoy having some screen-free time during the summer. After spending nine months glued to school portals, assignments, notifications, grades, and deadlines, summer offers something they desperately need: a break.
It gives them the freedom just to be teenagers again. To hang out with friends, get a job, stay up too late, sleep in, pursue random interests, or simply enjoy just “being” without every activity being tied to building a résumé or preparing them for the future.
Sometimes the best thing summer gives our teens is permission to be kids a little longer.
12 screen-free things that teens secretly love about summer (that don’t have anything to do with screens).
1. Hanging Out With Absolutely No Agenda
No practices. No games or club meetings. No assignments. No homework and no steadfast to-do list. Whether they’re hanging out, talking and laughing with friends, listening to music, or maybe catching a classic summer movie on Netflix. For a teenager who’s been “on” for months on end, all that “nothingness” is sheer heaven. (Parents, it might look like your teen is wasting time and being unproductive, but they need a little of this!)
2. Late-Night Food Runs
Maybe they suddenly got a serious craving for Chipotle or Chick-fil-A or their favorite junk food… honestly, there’s something magical about piling into a car with friends at 10:30 PM to hit a drive-thru, get some ice cream, fries, or run through a gas station to grab some (unhealthy, of course) snacks. It’s really rarely about the food. It’s about being with their friends, laughing about anything and everything, and that wonderful feeling that the night could take them anywhere.
3. Driving Around Aimlessly With Friends
For older teens who drive, few things beat rolling the windows down, cranking up the music, and driving aimlessly on a hot summer evening. Sure, it might just be a drive to and from nowhere in particular, but those drives with friends often become some of their fondest memories (even though they’re totally clueless about the cost of gasoline and they somehow always end up in the driveway with a near-empty tank).
4. Landing a Summer Job and Making a Few Bucks
They might complain about having to get up early in the morning or working late on a Friday night, but most teens secretly love the independence, making money (of their own!), making new friends at work, and the confidence that comes from holding down a summer job.
5. Learning Something Random Just Because
Now that their schedule has loosened up a bit, they can finally choose something THEY want to do. (Remember when we were kids and we spent countless hours painting rocks, French-braiding our friend’s hair, and scouring used bookstores for every X-Men comic book in existence?) Well, teens today aren’t any different.
Maybe it’s fishing, weightlifting, diving into a 1000-piece puzzle, learning how to play the guitar, fixing an engine on a car, mastering the art of making homemade pizza – summer gives them the space and time to try new things and become completely absorbed in whatever hobby feeds their soul.
6. Catching as Many Glorious Zzzzs as They Can
After months of early alarms, packed schedules, homework, sports, and late nights, most teens are determined to catch up on their sleep ANY way they can. Sleeping in ’til noon, one or two o’clock in the afternoon, grabbing a nap in the middle of the day, or even dozing off in the backyard on the lawn furniture, sleep is on top of nearly every teen’s summer priority list.
And, yep… it might drive you a little nuts, parents. But summer gives their growing bodies and brains a chance to recharge. Sometimes, one of the healthiest things a teenager can do during summer break is simply get the rest they’ve been missing all year.
7. Being Able to Stay Out Later with a Looser Curfew
There’s just something about summer nights when you’re a teenager. The sun lingers longer, the air feels different, and somehow a random night with friends can turn into one of your favorite memories.
Whether they’re gathering at a friend’s house, grabbing ice cream, taking a walk, listening to music, or simply talking under the stars, teens love the freedom and possibility that come with a summer evening. It’s one of the few times of the year when life slows down enough for them to simply enjoy being young and carefree.
8. Being Bored Long Enough to Get Creative
Some of the absolute BEST summer memories start with, “There’s nothing to do.” That boredom is what stirs creativity and prompts teens to start planning adventures, making fun videos, having creative photo shoots, building things, or just plain “inventing” fun.
9. Exploring Areas Parents Wouldn’t Approve Of
We all did it when we were teenagers, so it’s hard to squash our own teens’ pursuit of places they probably shouldn’t venture into. We’re talking about empty fields, trails, drainage tunnels, abandoned buildings, railroad tracks, and parks that are officially closed. What drives a lot of teens to seek out these dodgy places? Curiosity, adventure, still-developing brains, and wanting to have a great story to tell later. Sometimes it’s better not to know exactly what they’re up to every minute.
10. Being Outdoors
Maybe they’re floating down a river on a raft, lying on a rooftop looking for shooting stars, lounging by a pool listening to music, having a family picnic in a park, walking around a friend’s neighborhood after dark, or going to an outdoor music festival. A lot of teens love spending time outside during the summer. And who can blame them after spending months and months cooped up in classrooms and in their bedrooms studying?
11. Having a Summer Crush
Ahh… young love. Cue the Grease soundtrack because “Summer Lovin'” is still very much alive and well. Whether it’s going on actual dates, having a summer situationship, flirting at a summer job, meeting someone at the pool, or simply exchanging glances across a bonfire, romance tends to feel a little more exciting when school is out and the pressure is off.
12. Spending Quality Time with Family
You might not realize it, parents, but studies have shown that teens really want to spend MORE time with their families, and summer is the perfect time to do it. Hanging out at the beach, long summer strolls for no reason at all, family adventures, hiking, vacations to the beach, or maybe a day at the water park, pack in as much “family togetherness” as you can! Your teen loves it (even if they do act grumpy and miserable at times) and they’re making core memories they’ll carry with them forever!
The Thing Teens Probably Love Most…
Feeling free.
Free from grades. Free from deadlines. Free from alarms. Free from constantly being evaluated. For a few short months, they get to experience life without every moment being measured, tracked, scored, or judged, and that’s a gift many teens crave more than we realize.
Marybeth Bock, MPH, is a Mom to two young adults and one delightful hound dog. She has logged time as a military spouse, childbirth educator, college instructor, and freelance writer. She lives in Arizona and thoroughly enjoys research and writing, as long as iced coffee is involved. Her work can be found on numerous websites and in two books. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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