Sunday was Meghan Markle’s 43rd birthday, and though the celebrations were reportedly private, she and Prince Harry also used the day to debut one of their biggest initiatives yet. In an interview with CBS This Morning’s Jane Pauley, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared the mission behind the Parents’ Network, an Archewell Foundation effort to connect families whose children have suffered from harm encountered online, including suicides following online bullying and overdoses on drugs acquired online.
In the interview with Pauley, Meghan spoke about her experience with suicidal ideation, which she first discussed openly in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, and how it connected to her decision to get involved with activism around online harms. “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,” she said. “I haven’t 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 be making those sort of plans. And I would never want someone else to not be believed.”
Harry mentioned that parents are often unprepared to help their children face these challenges. “One of the scariest things that we’ve learnt over the course of the last 16, 17 years that social media’s been around—and more so recently—is the fact that it could happen to absolutely anybody,” he said. “We always talk about in the olden days if your kids were under your roof, you knew what they were up to; at least they were safe, right? Now, they could be in the next-door room on a tablet or on a phone and can be going down these rabbit holes. And before you know it, within 24 hours, they could be taking their life.”
The global network is launching after a two-year pilot program that brought a group of parents together online for trauma-informed peer support. On a new website, the Parents’ Network is sharing resources to help parents understand their child’s social media use and improve their privacy and safety. “The way social media platforms are currently designed is inherently dangerous,” the website reads. “Until this changes, we can mitigate some risks with these tips and guides.”
In a statement, Archewell’s executive director James Holt elaborated on the lessons Harry and Meghan learned from their interactions with parents and young people about online harm and social media safety. “It became strikingly clear that there is a critical need for connection and community among those who understand the pain, fear, and isolation caused by social media’s impact on children,” he said. “We believe in the transformative power of community, and that is why we have created this network—to connect those who face these challenges and offer mutual support.”
Meghan and Harry will continue raising awareness about issues related to social media and online harm with an upcoming trip to Colombia at the invitation of the nation’s Vice President Francia Márquez. During stops in Bogotá, Cartagena, and Cali, the couple will meet with youth leaders and learn about a new framework for safer online spaces that will be presented at the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in November.