<
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/14/prince-harry-pines-for-fictional-pre-social-media-olden-days-when-parents-had-full-control-over-their-children/>
"Over the last year especially, there’s been a lot of talk about kid safety
online and the role (if any) of social media in all of that. It’s a complicated
topic that requires nuance, not unproven claims of social media being the
cause. Getting this wrong is likely to make kids’ lives worse, not better.
Blaming social media is easy. Doing the actual work of figuring out where the
real problems are and how to best respond to them is hard.
Unfortunately, there are many people out there who want to spend their time
boosting their own reputations by claiming they’re helping kids, without being
willing to put in the actual work.
It looks like we may need to add Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, to
that list. Prince Harry has a bit of a history of cosplaying as an expert on
internet speech, without the actual expertise to back it up. And the latest
move strikes me as a very cynical and potentially dangerous approach. Harry and
Meghan launched something called “The Parents Network,” which, in theory,
could be a useful set of resources for parents grappling with the challenges
of raising kids in a digital era.
For example, it
could feature resources from actual experts like former
Techdirt podcast guest, Devorah Heitner. She has written multiple books on
how to better raise kids in a digital age. Her books mostly focus on better
communication between parents and kids, and not treating the internet as
something icky. This will only lead kids to try to hide their usage.
And perhaps, over time, Harry and Meghan’s effort will get there. The current
website provides precious few details. But what it does include seems to
suggest the effort is really focused on just demonizing social media. Prince
Harry and Meghan gave a big interview about this on
CBS News. In the
interview, Harry drops a line that is so disconnected from reality that it
should turn heads.
Prince Harry said that in the “olden days” parents always knew what their
children were up to, as long as they were at home.
“At least they were safe, right?” he said.
“And 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.”
Except… what? No, in the olden days parents did not always know what their
children were up to. Yes, perhaps if you were raised in Buckingham Palace,
there was always some adult keeping tabs on you, but for most adults today,
childhood included an awful lot of time when parents had no idea where you
were."'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
