It is scary for parents to think of all the trouble kids can get into on the internet without their knowledge. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry want to do something about this. They revealed at the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit, which fell on World Mental Health Day, that they have been secretly meeting with tech companies to make the internet a safer place.
Meghan and Harry have both been honest about their mental health struggles. They are also parents of two, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2. Parenthood is important to them.
Before Meghan and Harry took the stage, Carson Daly hosted a panel of grieving parents whose kids had taken their own lives after being bullied on social media. Meghan and Harry are creating a support system for them. No parent should ever have to go through losing a child to suicide.
“There’s a reason why no one else is working in this space, the size and the power of these companies can make you feel scared and helpless … we all understand that,” Harry said. The couple also has experience with cyberbullies.
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Meghan believes that tech companies have responsibility here and that the “burden can’t lay solely on the parents.” She acknowledges that some have “created parental controls and certain guardrails … if [parents] aren’t tech savvy, you can’t navigate that comfortably, it feels pretty overwhelming. So there has to be a better solution than that.”
Meghan and Harry are not afraid to ask the hard questions. “As we watch the evolution of social media and and the internet, what are those safe modifications that we need to make? People are getting hurt and children are dying, how do we fix that?” Meghan asked.
“The pushback is, ‘Well, you don’t really understand.’ How can we understand if you’re not being transparent?” Harry added.
Harry and Meghan were joined by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He shared that his kids will not be on social media until after middle school. He highlighted the somber facts that many kids are lonely and 1 in 3 high schoolers are “seriously considering taking their own life.”
Vivek put it bluntly. “That is a crisis. The true measure of a society is how well it takes care and protects its young people,” he said.
Harry believes society created this problem and now has an obligation to solve it. “There is nothing wrong with these kids, if any one of us in this room grew up with social media we would probably react in this way. It’s the world that we’re allowing to be created around them,” he stated.
Meghan and Harry want tech companies to try harder. “Please stop sending these children content that you would not want your own children to see,” Harry stated. Even if this means “a little less profit to create a safe space [that] would stop the suffering.”
Meghan agrees. “Anyone as a parent — even if not — you see your friends and adults affected … by the online world … If someone is looking for something, please don’t feed them the thing that is going to harm them,” she urged.
Both Meghan and Harry love being parents. “Being a mom is the most important thing in my life,” Meghan stated. One can infer that Harry would say the same about being a father.
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling 988. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
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