Get Real.
Changing the culture
around screens through
real information,
real stories, and
real (in-person) connection.
Changing the culture
around screens through
real information,
real stories, and
real (in-person) connection.
The Get Real! Initiative empowers American youth with the toolkit to build healthier relationships with technology — helping kids reclaim their connections with the offline world and reducing screen addiction one school and community at a time.
We believe screen addiction is not just a personal habit, but a cultural norm. Society must recenter in-person conversation and communion, and all the boredom and belonging it brings. Get Real! pursues that through the institutions that shape future minds most: schools.
Get Real was started at Harvard by two friends who remember what childhood used to feel like: unstructured, unhurried, and offline. As members of GenZ, they witnessed the profound shift that coincided with the rise of handheld technologies. They founded Get Real because they lived both sides, and believed that younger generations deserve a return to the real.
This summer, we will be taking to the American roadway with one catch: there are no phones allowed! In each city, we will hit the streets, culminating in a multi-site campaign towards screen-time reduction. These conversations and interventions will be documented, culminating in a video-series composed of both these interactions and the ordeals of a roadtrip without modern technology. Of course, the camera and Zoom recorder will be the only technology we permit!
The roadtrip will commence in July 2026, just in time for our nation’s 250th birthday. Check back in for proof of our travels, or, see you on the road!
