Harry And Meghan Call For ‘Urgent’ Protections For Kids On Social Media

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, unveiled a memorial to children who died due to the effects of online harm.Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined families in mourning in New York City on Wednesday evening as they unveiled a powerful memorial that calls for urgent reform of social media.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a private vigil for a temporary installation called “The Lost Screen Memorial,” which features 50 smartphone lock screens. Each lock screen is in a lightbox displaying the image of a child whose life ended too soon as a result of social media. The parents of the children featured in the installation are all part of Harry and Meghan’sArchewell Foundation Parents’ Network and its No Child Lost to Social Media campaign. Parents submitted these “deeply personal images” of their children “to call attention to the urgent need for safer online spaces,” according to a statement from Archewell.At the memorial, the affected parents gathered to view the installation and meet with other parents, as well as the duke and duchess, who spent nearly two hours connecting with each person at the event. “It is a universal truth that our children are in harm’s way by what’s happening online,” Meghan said at the event. “No matter how polarised the world is or what people may or may not agree on, one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe.”Prince Harry got visibly emotional while talking about the harrowing stories he’s heard from parents over the last several years about their children who lost their lives due to cyberbullying or other dangers on social media.“The easiest thing to say is to keep your kids away from social media,” Harry told HuffPost at the event. “The sad reality is that the kids that aren’t on social media normally get bullied at school because they can’t be part of the same conversations as everybody else.”“Life is better off of social media,” Harry continued. “I say that as a parent, and I say that as someone who’s spoken to many of the kids here tonight who are not on social media because they’ve lost a brother or a sister to social media. But clearly, enough is not enough. Enough is not being done.”During the emotional unveiling of the installation, many people wept when they first saw their child’s photo. Families were able to place flowers in front of their child’s lightbox, and some parents described the overwhelming feeling of seeing their child on the screen. As the evening progressed and the sun set, the photos became even brighter, illuminating the entire space, which overlooked the city. “That moment of coming around the corner and seeing it was a touch overwhelming, and that’s probably where I cried the most,” Amy Neville, who lost a son named Alexander, told HuffPost on Wednesday. “But then going to my son’s lightbox, he’s cremated in his bedroom and so we don’t have a place to go,” she continued. “And so, that feeling came over me when I got over there – I’m like, ‘Oh wow, this is kind of like visiting the gravesite’ … and so that was a feeling I didn’t anticipate.” Joanna Bogard, who lost her son Mason, said that “Any time you lose someone, a child, someone you love dearly — just having something tactile, something to look at, something to touch, something to say they were here and they were so important, it’s just such a gift. And this is such a gift.” In addition to the lightboxes, parents were able to record their memories of their child in a digital version of the memorial. “They were remembered for who they were, and not so much how they passed,” Bogard said. “And this gave us a chance to connect as a community of grieving parents – to talk about our kids in a way we don’t typically talk about them.” “So many of us [parents] advocate through education, state legislation, federal legislation. We’re on Capitol Hill; we’re in the state lobby offices. We’re just doing so much. And we’re telling how they passed, but it’s not very often that we get to say, this is my child,” Bogard continued. Bogard said Mason loved to fish and hike, and that he was adventurous.“He loved so much about the world, and he was loved and he loved,” she said. “And this gives us that chance to exhale and focus on who Mason was and who our kids were, and then it gives us a chance to say thank you for giving us this opportunity to connect.” One parent, Tammy Rodriguez, said that her daughter Selena “always loved the city.” And now, with the exhibit, “she’s right in the middle, and she’s overlooking it.” “Just seeing that really meant a lot to us,” said Rodriguez, who attended the memorial with her daughter Destiny. “It’s been an absolute honour and pleasure just to be able to be here and exist with everyone and just kind of feel that mutual love and kind of grieve as well,” she added. Both Tammy and Destiny Rodriguez spent time with Harry and Meghan, whom they described as “so down to earth” and “so sweet.”Harry and Meghan have made the dangers of social media, especially as it concerns children, one of their core initiatives.HuffPost previously reported on a panel on behalf of the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit in New York City in October 2023, where parents of children who died by suicide spoke about their experiences. The parents told audience members about how certain social media algorithms led their children down dangerous digital rabbit holes, and how tech companies and platforms outpaced parents who would consider themselves well-versed in social media.Meghan said she found it “just devastating” to hear from the parents Archewell worked with, and said it was “impossible to not be in tears” when they shared their stories. The Duchess of Sussex has spoken out about being the victim of cyberbullying on a global scale. In March 2021, she told Oprah Winfrey she was suicidal while living in the United Kingdom because she felt so isolated by royal life.“I’m told that in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the entire world – male or female,” Meghan said during a joint interview with Harry on the “Teenager Therapy” podcast in 2020.“Eight months of that, I wasn’t even visible. I was on maternity leave with a baby,” the royal shared. “But what was able to be manufactured and churned out – it’s almost unsurvivable.”“That’s so big you can’t even think of what that feels like,” the royal added.Help and support:Bullying UK - Advice on bullying at work, school and cyberbullying - 0808 800 2222Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email [email protected] Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.Related...Adolescence Shows Us The 1 Part Of Teens’ Lives We Can't ControlEverything We Believe About Kids And Phones Might Be Wrong, Study FindsI Track My Teens' Phones And Discovered Something Unexpected About Myself

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