24 hours without talking. That’s what Mrs Jodi Johnson’s 12th grade English classes were challenged to do–or not do. 

The task seemed daunting at first, but every student in her classes were handed a note for their teachers and parents to sign, acknowledging the assignment and for the student to be excused from talking for that class period. 

The guidelines were simple: No communication for 24 straight hours. This includes talking, whispering, written communication, and texting. The only exceptions were if the specific class requires communication in some way (example: Drama) or if it was absolutely necessary, for example: an after school job.

The first hour wasn’t too hard, seeing that we only didn’t talk to people in our sixth hour (I have English fifth hour). At home we (the class) just didn’t talk to our parents or siblings. 

After school activities were a challenge. I do crew for the upcoming musical, and not bursting out laughing or talking was very difficult. I talked twice to the same person. I technically failed, but I wanted to see what other challenges I’d face if I couldn’t talk.

The next day at school is where I really saw the point of this challenge. Not being able to talk to teachers or friends made it difficult to get through some classes. Not being able to talk to others left me feeling down. But it taught me something important, communication is very important in our everyday lives and it’s something we should not take for granted.

A survey that was conducted (by yours truly) showed that 50 percent said they could not go a day without talking, while the other 50 percent said they could. These results make you think about who may have responded and what they have to do to communicate. This only proves the point that communication is very important in our everyday lives.

The experience made me think of situations I wouldn’t normally think about because I’m not talking. It’s a neat challenge and I encourage those who are interested to try this.