The Princess of Wales made an urgent plea about the harm smartphones are playing in family life – just as Prince Harry and Meghan also gave a warning about the dangers online
The Princess of Wales’s warning about the harm caused by smartphones could be one of her most important, according to an expert.
Kate aired her concerns about the problems posed by modern technology at the expense of family life in an essay where she warned about the “epidemic of disconnection” created by smartphones and other gadgets and urged society to “invest in the relationships you have with each other”. It came just hours before Prince Harry and Meghan also spoke out about how the impact of social media on children is “one of the most pressing issues of our time”.
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In her essay, Kate explained: “When we check our phones during conversations, scroll through social media during family dinners, or respond to e-mails while playing with our children, we’re not just being distracted, we are withdrawing the basic form of love that human connection requires.”
And for former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, tackling this issue could be one of Kate’s biggest missions. She told the Mirror : “I think this could be one of the most important campaigns that Catherine has so far spearheaded. As a society, we are grappling with the very real challenges that modern technology has thrown at us: trying to live in two, three, even multiple worlds at the same time.
“Writing in collaboration with a Harvard professor gives an extra dimension to words that will ring true in almost every household up and down the country. How many of us are constantly distracted by our phones, “physically present but mentally absent”as Catherine puts it?
“I think she’s entirely right: we have to lead by example when it comes to family life. Children need to know and feel that they come first — and that simply can’t come across if their parents are constantly distracted by their screens.
“It is a modern-day crisis in which so many of us are, as she says, ‘simply no longer able to engage fully with people who are right in front of us’.
“William has told us that none of his children is allowed a smartphone yet, and more and more schools are now banning them. If Catherine and William continue to voice these concerns, they will be doing all of us – and particularly the young children of the next generation— a huge service.”
Kate’s plea came just hours before Harry and Meghan also spoke about a similar topic as they picked up a humanitarian award at the Project Healthy Minds Gala.
Citing that 4,000 families are taking legal action through the Social Media Victims Law Centre, the duke said more needed to be done to protect young people from online dangers.
“Tonight, we are all here together to focus on what remains one of the most pressing issues of our time,” Harry said. “Let me share a number with you: 4,000. That’s how many families the Social Media Victims Law Centre is currently representing – families whose children have been harmed or lost forever to social media.
The couple’s stance on social media comes just months after Meghan returned to Instagram with a personal account after several years off the platform.
Last week she drew criticism on a trip to Paris where she filmed herself being driven at night through the French capital with her feet on the seat, near where the late Princess Diana was involved in a fatal car crash.
Jennie added: “I think Meghan’s Instagram post of being driven at night so close to the tunnel where Diana died was highly insensitive — but unintentionally so. She should have thought about it harder but, like so many people these days, it’s all about sharing your life instantly without considering the implications.
“I’m sure it’s the last thing Meghan meant to do, why would she want to upset her husband? But perhaps she should have posted a follow-up explaining her mistake, and apologising.”
