Meghan Markle and Prince Harry talk parenting and protecting children’s mental health in the digital age

During a week commemorating World Mental Health Day (October 10) and International Day of the Girl (October 11), Meghan Markle and Prince Harry focused on the mental health of the most vulnerable among us .

On Tuesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in New York for the first-ever in-person event for their three-year-old foundation, the Archewell Foundation Parent Summit: Mental Wellbeing in the Digital Age.

As reported by People magazine, the couple joined an emotional panel of parents who have experienced a tragic loss related to their child’s use of social media. As Harry noted after taking the stage, the couple had also become engaged to the parents off-stage.

I can’t begin without thanking all the parents, mothers and fathers for being with us physically today, but also for taking this journey with us over the last year, creating this community of experiences shared, Harry said as he and Meghan joined the panel. We know it’s not easy for you to be here, so thank you very much.

“A year ago we met with some of the families,” Meghan added, “and at the time it was impossible not to cry hearing their stories because it was just devastating.

Recognizing the challenges of raising children in the digital age, in which bullies, predators and other dangers can exploit the broad reach of social media, the Sussexes also acknowledged their concerns as parents of their son Archie and their daughter Lilibet.

“As parents, even though our children are very young at two and a half and four and a half, social media is not going away,” Meghan noted. And by design there was an entrance [point] it was supposed to be positive and create community, but something happened, and there’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families get their stories heard.

Speaking about the aim of the summit, Harry added: I think for us, for me and my wife, with children growing up in the digital age, the priority here is, again, to transform the pain as a goal and also provide as much support as possible. as a spotlight and platform for these parents to come together, heal, grieve, and collectively focus on solutions so that no other family, anywhere, has to go through what ‘they have lived.

Those parents reportedly included Toney and Brandy Roberts, who attended the Archewell Foundation’s Parent Summit and previously shared their story with CBS’ 60 Minutes. The Roberts’ 14-year-old daughter Englyn committed suicide in 2020 after struggling with mental health issues; she had apparently invented the method from a video on Instagram. The video in question circulated until the following year before being deleted by the platform; the Roberts filed suit against parent company Meta in 2022.

TV personality, Healthy Minds Project board member and event moderator Carson Daly asked Meghan how stories like the Roberts’ had affected her as a mother.

“Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life outside of, of course, being the wife of this one,” she said, acknowledging Harry. “But I will say that I feel lucky that our kids are at an age, again quite young, so it’s not in our immediate future, but I’m also afraid of how that continues to change, and it will be before us.”

“They say that being a parent, the days are long, but the years are short, so that worries me; but I also feel a lot of hope and energy from the progress we’ve made over the past year, allowing these incredible parents, these survivors of these experiences, to share their stories and collecting more information. do, the more we can move the needle a little bit,” Meghan continued. “Everyone is affected by the online world and social media. We all just want to feel safe. I am convinced that with more listening, awareness and visibility into what is really happening, we can bring about meaningful change together.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was also part of the panel, who offered advice on protecting children from the darker sides of social media.

“What we’re going to need is to work together and collaborate with other parents,” Murthy said. “Because it’s a lot easier to do if you’re part of a group of parents who say we’re going to do this for our kids. Every time one of our kids says, ‘I’m the only one not in it,’ we can say, No, Harry and Meghan’s kids aren’t in it either!’

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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