Faith, Phones, and the Fight for Gen Alpha

Coach Morgan Landworth opens up about his perspective as a coach and teacher, explaining how much time he spends with students gives him a unique insight into their world. He's become more sensitive to the subtle ways Satan creeps into conversations and relationships.

"Our kids are so fueled by dishonor. Meaning like everything that... puts down somebody else, which is actually inherently just lifting me up... is what is glorified in our school system as far as the inner workings of the relationships."

He describes a social dynamic where students gain acceptance by disrespecting others, a small victory for the individual but a larger one for Satan, who seeks to draw them away from God in minute ways.

A new state-wide policy in Texas banning personal cell phone use during school hours has had a shocking and immediate impact. Before the ban, phones were a tool for "total dissociation"-an escape from reality, social anxiety, and accountability. Students constantly ran to a false reality that often made them feel worse about themselves.

Now, without their digital "crack pipe," students are forced to engage with the world and each other. The result? A stunning increase in real, meaningful conversation.

"In two days, I've heard so much conversation amongst kids. It is unreal... It's the kids that begin to ponder things because they don't have the... little crackpipe to hit, you know, to escape reality. They then begin to ponder things like truth. And then that brings you to a point when some random kid's just sitting there and goes, 'Hey, coach, are tattoos a sin?'"

This simple change has opened the door for profound spiritual questions about sin, God, and purpose, happening right in the middle of class. What was feared to be a disaster has become a fruitful opportunity for ministry.

When asked why he wouldn't put his own children in public school, Coach Landworth's answer is blunt: the public school system can be detrimental to a child's faith. He believes the primary opposition isn't the system itself, but the parents.

"The opposition is the parents. The parents are the problem. There's so much lack of discipleship in our homes that is... it's disgusting and sad... You're sending kids in with spiritual water guns, bro."

He argues that many Christian parents, whether through neglect or fear, fail to equip their children to face the spiritual battles of a secular environment. They want the character-building benefits of a well-run school system but none of the accountability at home, effectively seeking "top-tier babysitting paid by the government." This lack of intentional discipleship leaves kids vulnerable and unprepared for the pressures they will inevitably face.

Morgan's passion for discipling young men is forged from his own story of instability. After losing his grandparents and navigating the foster care system, his high school years were a "hodgepodge of jumping from house to house."

Everything changed when he met Jordan, the team's quarterback, who became his workout partner. Through their friendship, Morgan was welcomed into Jordan's family, where he first witnessed the stability and agape love that comes from a Christ-centered home.

"I get to step into his life a little bit and see what stability and agape love really is. And I quickly at the comparison of my own life go, 'I haven't had that.'... Retrospectively knowing the love of God now... I look back and I go, it was the love of God. That's what held that place together."

This encounter led him to a church service and his first honest prayer. That night, he heard the audible voice of God, a moment that shook him to his core and led him to give his life to Christ at a wooden altar, asking to know, love, and be used by God-a prayer that defines his mission today.