Prince Harry joined World Mental Health Day on Thursday, October 10 Anxious generation author and social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, to discuss smartphones, social media and their impact on the youth population.
In a video shared with Fortune Well, the Duke of Sussex, 40, began their conversation by saying that “in many cases, the smartphone is stealing the childhood of young people.”
Haidt agreed with his observation, noting that people born after 1995 living in English-speaking countries enter puberty with high rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide as a direct result of smartphones.
But Harry followed up with a question about the common misconception that “social media is pointing the finger at parents” because of the growing mental health crisis. By stating this, companies say, “‘Well, you know, this is up to you. This is up to your parenting.’ ”
But Haidt disagrees with that argument. “If there were parents who were getting this wrong, and most parents were getting it right, then I would be very sensitive to that argument,” he said. “But once kids get a phone and social media, the rest of family life turns into a fight over screen time. And it happens everywhere.”
“Tech companies got us into trouble, and then they try to blame us for what they did,” Haidt added.
Prince Harry says ‘mental fitness’ is ‘essential’ in impassioned speech at United Nations
Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023.
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
As their conversation continued, the Duke of Sussex, himself father to son Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3, added that he learned from The Archewell Foundation Insight Sessions that parents want their children to have a phone, especially for emergencies on school.
Haidt then replied: “Give them the phone. Just don’t give them a supercomputer connected to everyone in the world.”
Harry also addressed the common misconception that Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are “straws of salvation” and that social media “provides an outlet, an extra resource” for children. Haidt explained that this is a common “myth,” noting that the solution for kids to feel more connected is to put down their phones and connect in person.
“The research, I think, is very clear: when children have a best friend or a particularly small group [of friends]they generally do well,” Haidt revealed. “When children don’t have a close friend or a close group, they are much less likely to be successful. When you have 300 relationships, you don’t have time for anyone.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visit teenagers to discuss social media pressures for Mental Health Awareness Month
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Prince Harry in Koto Ward, Tokyo on August 9, 2023.
Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images
“This year, 2024, is a turning point. Terrible things have happened to our children. Now we see it… I don’t want to blame any parent because we didn’t know this 10 years ago,” Haidt concluded.
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The pair’s conversation follows the second edition of Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation Insight Report, which captured “a global youth perspective on the growing role of technology,” according to the foundation’s website. Young people from Colombia, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the report.
Last month, Harry spoke to the Clinton Foundation about the dangers of social media and children consuming online content.
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Source: HIS Education