Meghan Markle’s previous experience with suicide inspires new initiative to protect children
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry launch "The Parent Network" to protect families and their children from the dark sides of social media.
Since the debut of her relationship with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle has fallen victim to public scrutiny. From blogs to social media, the Duchess of Sussex lived under an international microscope upon joining the royal family. Though the couple has stepped back from their duties as senior members of the British monarchy and moved to the United States, Markle has opened up life as an active member of the royal family.
During an interview with Oprah in 2021, the Duchess of Sussex said she battled severe depression while pregnant with their son Archie. This, paired with unsupportive, isolating treatment within the monarchy, left Markle feeling like she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
“I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said, ‘I’ve never felt this way before,’ and that I needed to go somewhere, and I was told that I couldn’t. That it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” Markle said at the time of the interview, as reported by theGrio.
In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Markle explained how she overcame the constant bullying and negative social media comments through the years.
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“When you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey — certainly part of mine — is being able to be really open about it,” Markle told CBS. “I really scraped the surface on my experience, but I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way and… I would never want someone else to not be believed. If me voicing what I have overcome will save someone or encourage someone in their life to really, genuinely check in on them and not assume that the appearance is good so everything is OK, then that’s worth it. I’ll take a hit for that.”
Inspired by her own experiences, Marke and Prince Harry have teamed up to launch The Parents Network through their Archewell Foundation to help parents whose children have fallen victim to online bullying and harassment. The initiative encourages families to use their voices to incite change with the slogan “No More.” The organization’s website says “No More” blaming families, “No More” allowing social media companies to prioritize profit over our children’s safety and “No More” watching our youth suffer.
“At this point, we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder,” Prince Harry said, explaining the importance of this platform. “And even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have actively advocated for children’s protection on social media for the past two years. Reportedly working closely with parents and young people about social media’s repercussions on mental, physical, and emotional well-being, The Parent Network’s “No Child Lost to Social Media” campaign is a part of the couple’s ongoing support for this issue. As reported by theGrio, in January, Markle and Prince Harry attended the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis” hearing on holding social media companies accountable for children’s safety.
“This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing. The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms,” the Duke and Duchess said in a statement. “If love could have saved them, all of our children would still be here. This is not the time to pass the buck of responsibility. It’s the time to make necessary change at the source to keep our children safe.”
In addition to implementing settings to protect children online, Markle encourages everyone to look at social media interactions “through the lens of ‘What if it was my daughter? What if it was my son?’” because she says as parents all you want to do is protect your children.
“If you look at it through the lens as a parent, there’s no way to see that any other way than to try to find a solution,” she added. “As we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know that there’s a lot of work to be done there, and we’re just happy to be able to be a part of change for good.”
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