Sacred Stories from the Sidelines of Notre Dame Football w/ Fr. Nate Wills, CSC

In 'The Anxious Generation', Jonathan Haidt examines the sudden decline in the mental health of adolescents starting in the early 2010s. He attributes this decline to the shift from a 'play-based childhood' to a 'phone-based childhood', highlighting mechanisms such as sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, and perfectionism that interfere with children’s social and neurological development. Haidt proposes four simple rules to address this issue: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, phone-free schools, and more opportunities for independence, free play, and responsibility. The book offers a clear call to action for parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments to restore a more humane childhood and end the epidemic of mental illness among youth.

In 'Reality Is Broken,' Jane McGonigal argues that games provide rewards, challenges, and epic victories that are often lacking in the real world. She suggests that gamers are expert problem solvers and collaborators and introduces cutting-edge games that are already addressing social problems like depression and obesity, as well as global issues like poverty and climate change. The book proposes that by understanding and designing games, we can improve our daily lives, work, philanthropy, and relationships outside of gaming.