Let’s play cards

Hi,

Today, we’re going to talk about loneliness and our kids.

Before the heavy stuff, guess what % of our founding class for September 2026 is coming from public schools.

(answer below)

Now, back to loneliness.

I’m reading a great book called Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. It has changed how I think about what modern schools actually owe our kids.

When we hear about teen loneliness, we often reflexively blame phones for this.

It’s clear as I read Bowling Alone that we were becoming a more lonely country well before phones.

In 1974, most Americans spent a social evening with a neighbor at least once a month (see graph above). By 1998, a decade before smartphones, that number was steadily dropping. We stopped knowing the people next door long before we ever stopped looking up from a screen.

Phones didn't start the fire. They poured gas on it.

Cards tell the same story. From 1975 to 1999, the average American went from playing cards 16 times a year to 8. Cut in half. Pre-phones.

I remember being 10 years old in the basement and hearing things getting really loud upstairs and running up to see my parents and their friends playing poker. I’d run to my mom or dad and ask “whose winning?”. The adults talked politics, the men (aka the uncles) drank scotch, they laughed, they talked a little isht and then we all left just to repeat it again the next month.

My generation didn’t continue that tradition.

Over time, more passive and solitary activities like TV, video games, etc started taking more of our time.

And so now, our kids spend more time alone.

They date, party and visit friends less.

The result is what you’d expect.

57% of teenage girls now report persistent sadness or hopelessness. In 2011, it was 36%. The trend for boys is bad too, just not as bad.

Schools didn't cause this.

But schools are the single biggest lever we have to fix it.

Here's the math. A middle schooler spends almost half their waking hours inside a school building. No other institution comes close.

And so if we engineer schools to foster loneliness, we get lonely kids.

And unfortunately, most schools are engineered this way.

25 kids in rows, told to face forward and stop talking. Lunch shortened to 20 minutes. Gym 1x per week cuz we gotta make room for test prep. Chromebooks for as far as the eye can see.

Here is what we do at Forge.

We’ve engineered it for connection.

We don’t want kids sitting in silence next to each other for seven hours. They work with each other, and with adults from the community, on real problems.

They defend their ideas in seminars. They debate, discuss and get sharper through friction.

They don't stare at screens. No phones. No watching video lectures on Chromebooks. We prefer pen, paper, voices, faces.

They don't sit at desks all day. We have 2 activity periods; one in the morning and afternoon. We know kids who move are also connecting.

They present their work to authentic audiences. Business owners. Government officials. Real customers. Experts in the field. We coach them (think of it as practice and scrimmage). And then on game day, when it is time to share their results, they put it all together with real stakes.

Connection is not something that happens in the cracks of the day at Forge. It’s how we’re built.

This loneliness problem is one of the most important things we have to solve for our kids, and schools are a critical vehicle to do this.

Now for some good news

Our founding class of 30 for next year is now fully enrolled.

If we are able to find additional teachers (Guides) who meet our standard, we will increase the size of the class.

If Forge sounds like the kind of school for your kid, apply here so we can get the process rolling and get them on the waitlist should spots open up.

BTW, one thing that has surprised me about our enrollees has been that two-thirds have come from public schools.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Forge ahead,
Anand

Co-founder, Forge Prep

P.S. If grabbing some playing cards for the weekend, I highly recommend a game called Tien Lien or VC (Vietnamese Cards).

P.P.S. Parents - How many of these evidence-based learning principles are you familiar with?

▪️ Retrieval practice
▪️ Spaced repetition
▪️ Interleaving
▪️ Mastery checks
▪️ Varied practice

Let me know by dropping a quick response. Trying to decide if I should write about them in future newsletters.