Normal parents now have one thing in common with Prince William: screentime for their kids. The next King of England recently confessed that throwing off devices from Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis has turned into a 'tense issue'.
As an attempt to impose less screen time, the prince pointed out that his children are doing more trampolining, playing sports, and learning musical instruments. However, he and Princess Kate also have another concern, which is that of content monitoring.
Screentime: The Common Enemy of All Parents
According to Fox News, the prince explained that children 'can access too much stuff they don't need to see online'. He described it as 'really hard' to shield his children from the risks posed by social media and excessive screen use. Supporting this, a 2023 Mott Poll Report found that device overuse and social media are leading health concerns for parents across the United Kingdom.
The struggle to limit device time is not only experienced by royal families. Even famous tech people, who invented social media, implemented similar measures to limit phone use. This included Bill Gates and Mark Cuban.
Experts note that prolonged use of devices adversely affects the physical and cognitive development of children. In the list are sleep disruption, delayed language acquisition, impaired executive functioning, and social-emotional difficulties. On the physical side, sedentary behaviors lead to obesity and hypertension, while the never-ending stream of online information can cause anxiety and low self-esteem.
Besides physical health, screens may have an impact on emotional well-being as well. Technologies that were initially created to bring us together, can, in fact, facilitate disconnection, loneliness and depression. Our characters and attention are being weakened by the endless streams of notifications, FOMO and online comparisons.
To sum it up, kids are 'digitally connected' but more and more they are alone offline.
The Danger of Meeting People Online
Among other risks, teenagers can fall victims to online predators, cyberbullying, sextortion or even AI-generated deepfakes. Studies show that 72% of teenagers have used AI, and almost one-third consider it a source of emotional support or a way to start a romantic relationship.
In some cases, AI interactions, especially those including sexual content or harmful advice, can result in the escalation of an individual's emotional distress to such a degree that they might take their own life.
Online = Gen Z Audience
But being out of the loop is not really the most suitable plan for the royal family. Younger audiences are more and more likely to consider liking a relatable royal than a traditional one. Ex-royal butler, Grant Harrold, said that Prince Harry's friendly manner was a good example for communicating with Gen Z, adding that the 'realness' gets the connection more than curated social media posts.
On the one hand, Prince William is trying to keep his children away from the influence of the screens; on the other hand, the royal family has to stay in touch with the public, thus they are at the same time engaged in the game of digital safety and need to be, or rather seem, relatable. The ex-royal butler commented that they can take a page out of Harry and Meghan's 'relatability' playbook too, especially since Prince William is about to be king in the near future.
