SP2 announces “The Anxious Generation” as One Book, One SP2 selection

Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) has announced the selection of “The Anxious Generation:  How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt as its 2025 – 2026 One Book, One SP2 choice.

In “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist and University of Pennsylvania alumnus Dr. Jonathan Haidt explores the transformation of childhood in the digital age. He traces the decline of the “play-based childhood” beginning in the 1980s and its replacement by the “phone-based childhood” in the 2010s. Haidt outlines how this shift has disrupted children’s social and neurological development, contributing to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Topics include sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social comparison, social contagion, and perfectionism. The book also offers actionable steps for parents, educators, tech companies, and policymakers to help restore a healthier childhood.

Now in its seventh year, One Book, One SP2 is a school-wide reading initiative designed to strengthen community and foster dialogue across students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The selected book is chosen through a community-wide survey, and the program includes opportunities for engagement such as small-group discussions at the start of the fall semester.

“This year’s selection provides an opportunity for us to discuss a timely social issue that impacts many of our lives,” says Associate Dean for Community Cultivation & Engagement Dr. Jerri Bourjolly, who leads the initiative. “Through our discussions, the SP2 community will have the opportunity to share different perspectives on how social media is impacting the mental health and social development of children and adolescents and consider the roles communities, tech companies, the government, and even places of worship and spiritual practices can play in addressing these challenges.”