I don’t have a phone – this is how I stay connected to my friends

How do you stay connected? If I want to ask a friend to come over, I make invitations and drop them at their houses, writes Emily Rose

We often use FaceTime and invite everyone so we can speak in one big group (iStock/The Independent)

I am going to start by saying that I don’t have a phone – but this doesn’t mean that I don’t stay connected.

I’m 10 and have three best friends. Their names are Scarlett, Emilia and Margot. I see them every day at school. We are all in the same class. We all look after each other. We like to do strange handshakes and singing games. We also have millions of playdates after school – and a lot of sleepovers on Fridays at my house. I love them.

Now that we are in year six, we are allowed to walk to and from school on our own on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We collect some other friends on the way and all walk in one big group. It gives us the chance to talk freely about drama, problems, fun things coming up – and more. It is very rare for us to have arguments but if we do, we always find a way to work it out in the end.

At weekends, we sometimes go to each other’s houses or go swimming together or to a park with our parents. I recently got messages on the iPad at home and Roblox. We often use FaceTime and invite everyone so we can speak in one big group.

During lockdown, it was hard to stay close to all my friends but we found a way. We facetimed a lot and they came to the gate at my house while I was standing at the porch. We also wrote each other letters about how we were feeling and what we did that day. It was really hard but we have all been friends since year two! So it all worked out.

During the pandemic, our teacher did Zooms once a day and our class got to see each other. We all got to talk about our plans and other exciting things. We did family quizzes on Zoom once a week. Everyone got the chance to make and try to answer them.

For me, it was really hard to not be able to hug my family and friends during lockdown. I saw my grandparents on Christmas from the end of the driveway – my nanny made us all a Christmas dinner and delivered it in Tupperware and we opened presents from two metres away. I couldn’t see my dad at Christmas last year because he caught Covid and was in isolation. So we opened presents on FaceTime with him, too.

I hope I’ll get a phone for Christmas. If I do, I will use it to message my friends and my family. At the moment, if I want to ask a friend to come over, I make invitations and drop them at their houses!

When we have sleepovers, we get pizza, play games like Cluedo and charades, watch movies and stay up late talking about life and teachers, and imagining what high school will be like. I don’t have any social media and won’t be allowed it until I’m older, but I think I will stay connected to my primary school friends by messaging them, meeting up – and just seeing them around our local area, in the forest and park and on the high street.

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I have another best friend called Poppy. We see each other a lot. We have known each other our whole lives – since we were babies! We grew up together but went to different primary schools and stayed best friends. We are hoping to go to the same high school and be together again.

Near my primary school, which is in London, there is a big grassy area where everyone goes after school. The parents and carers chat with each other and the kids all climb trees and run around. This is how I stay connected to my friends and school life.

I have three cousins who all live in Bristol. I don’t see them very often so I like making cards and sending them to them. In fact, I make a lot of cards – I’ve just made 30 Christmas cards for everyone in my class at school. I always make cards for people’s birthdays. It helps me feel connected to them, and hopefully makes them think of me and want to stay connected to me, too.

Our series – Generation Gap – explores how different generations stay connected. See the rest of the series here