A New York Times Story, “It Makes Sense That People See AI as God” – Terry Mattingly, 1/28/26 (0281)

In this book, Harry Potter faces a new challenge during his second year at Hogwarts. The Chamber of Secrets, a hidden chamber within the school, has been reopened, and a monster is petrifying Muggle-born students. Harry, along with his friends Ron and Hermione, must uncover the identity of the Heir of Salazar Slytherin and stop the attacks. Along the way, they discover a diary belonging to Tom Riddle, a former student who later became Lord Voldemort, and ultimately face the basilisk that is terrorizing the school. With the help of magical creatures and objects, Harry defeats the basilisk and saves his friend Ginny Weasley, who had been taken into the Chamber.

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.