SP2 One Book Discussion – Virtual

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Dr. Haidt investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. He shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. Haidt describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

SP2 will be hosting school-wide, cross-program One Book discussions via Zoom and in person for all students, faculty, staff, and alums. We are hopeful that these discussions will help build connections within SP2 and deepen our understanding of important social issues. Please register to attend one of the following group discussions by August 1, 2025.