The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reaffirmed their commitment to the health of the little ones and urged parents to protect their children from the influence of social networks
Within the framework of World Mental Health Day, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, led a public discussion about the influence of social networks on the mental health of young people.
This was the first in-person event for its Archewell Foundation, created to give a voice to those parents who are faced with emotional health challenges in the digital age, confirmed the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Meghan, who has spoken openly in the past about her personal challenges surrounding mental disorders, reaffirmed that she and her husband are focusing their energies on what they can do, behind the scenes, to make social media use “safer, better and more positive.”
She indicated that they have held conversations with technology executives who have established control measures on their platforms, but stressed that parents need more effective solutions so that their children can manage social networks safely.
The American Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, and the television presenter, Carson Daly, were also part of the discussion, in which arguments were presented about the relationship between the consumption of social networks and mental disorders in young people, an issue that they assured must be addressed with preeminence: “For us, the priority here is to turn pain into purpose,” said Prince Harry.
During the session, the Duke and Duchess shared their fears and hopes as parents of young children in a digitally interconnected era. Meghan said: “Social media is not going away and, even though our children are still very young, I am afraid of how this continues to change and what it will face us in the future,” People magazine reported.
During the conversation, several parents explained the tragic loss of their children due to the harmful use of social networks. Among them, Jennie DeSerio, who told how her 16-year-old son, Mason, came to consume “increasingly darker content on TikTok” after her girlfriend ended their relationship. “A lot of these kids, when they take their own life, their devices are right next to them,” she said.
Other voices present, such as Zak Williams, a mental health advocate and son of the late actor Robin Williams, emphasized the inaccessibility of therapy for most Americans. Williams said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the suicides of his father and a young cousin, so medical care was vital to his mental stability.
He also highlighted that factors such as loneliness generate an extremely dangerous impact on mental health and added the effect of the climate crisis on young people as a new element to take into account when talking about mental disorders.
Faced with this, Dr. Vivek Murthy highlighted the importance of teamwork and collaboration between parents to protect children from the early use of social networks. “It will be much easier if we are a group of parents who say: We are going to do this for our children,” commented the expert.
Commitment to mental health
In parallel, in the United Kingdom, Harry's brother, Prince William, and his wife, the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, also participated in an independent forum to raise awareness about the mental health challenges of young people, AP confirmed.
In a speech in the city of Birmingham, Kate called for “more fair, safe, kind and equal societies”, while Prince William stated that talking about mental health helps reduce the stigma associated with the problem and added that “ There is still much to be done".
