Prince Harry says smartphones are “stealing young people’s childhood”
Since then Prince Harry And Meghan Markle they stepped down from their royal roles in 2020, they added effects of the digital world into their advocacy work on mental health and over the past few weeks they have been promoting one of their biggest initiatives to date, the Archewell Foundation Parents Network. To mark World Mental Health Day, Prince Harry interviewed social psychologist Jonathan Haidt about his recent bestseller, Anxious generationexamines the association between mental health problems and social media use in children.
During the interview, Harry shared some of his opinions on the impact of technology on children. “In many cases, smartphones have been stealing young people’s childhoods,” the prince said. “This is one of the problems I encountered. We are both dads—these apps are specifically designed to attract and keep kids online as long as possible, mindlessly scrolling.” Harry added that his parents’ positivity made him feel like change was possible. “There are more and more people who are protesting against these companies — including parents, mostly parents, and saying: No, this needs to change, not for my child.”
Archewell Parents Network which Meghan and Harry announced in Augustprovides trauma-informed peer support for parents whose children have been harmed online. In founding the network, Archewell drew on research on the impact of social media on children, including Haidt’s work in Anxious generation.
During his World Mental Health Day conversation with Haidt, Harry reiterated some of the ideas he mentioned when he and Meghan were together. interviewed by CBS about their inspiration for the show. “I’ve said before that at least to a certain extent, families and parents generally know that your children are safe under your roof,” Harry told Haidt. “We can’t say that anymore.”
The conversation coincided with the announcement of a number of different Archewell-funded projects related to social media and mental health. This week, Archewell released Its annual in-depth reportdiscuss the results of conversations Harry, Meghan and their staff have had with teenagers around the world. on FridayNon-profit organizations Girls Inc. and #HalfTheStory announced that Archewell is helping fund a digital wellness program called Social Media U that will reach middle school girls nationwide. Meghan celebrated the project with a visit to Girls Inc. in Greater Santa Barbara, where she spoke about her own experience being bullied on social media.
