Like many parents with young children, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex like to pack a lot into their schedules when they do have to travel for work. So it was this week, when Meghan was the headlining speaker at the Time100 Summit in New York. People were surprised to see Prince Harry come to New York with Meghan, and he basically acted as one of Meghan’s bodyguards as they entered and exited the venue. But many of us wondered if the Sussexes had other events scheduled in NYC. Turns out, the Archewell Foundation organized a 24-hour art installation, and on Wednesday evening, H&M attended the unveiling. The installation is part of the Parents’ Network, which was founded by Harry and Meghan, all to help parents and families navigate young people’s online media/social media habits.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry brought attention to a somber reality during their visit to New York City. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, together with the Archewell Foundation — the philanthropic organization they co-founded — unveiled a powerful installation honoring children who lost their lives due to the harms of social media.
The Lost Screen Memorial is comprised of 50 smartphones, each displaying the lock screen photo of a child whose life was cut short, stemming from the harmful effects of social media. The personal images were shared by parents, who are members of the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network, to call attention to the need for safer online spaces.
“These are families that we have been working with for several years,” Meghan told reporters at the event at The Perch in midtown Manhattan, which PEOPLE attended. “No matter how polarized the world is, or what people may or may not agree on, one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe. All of our children should be safe, and I think tonight, all of these stories solidify that.”
“These children were not sick. Their deaths were not inevitable—they were exposed to, and in many cases were pushed harmful content online, the kind any child could encounter,” the Duke of Sussex said. “No child should be exploited, groomed, or preyed upon in digital spaces. To the platforms, they may be seen as statistics. To their families, they were cherished and irreplaceable.”
A virtual version of the memorial will also include stories of each child, with some of the parents recording a personal voice message for people to listen to. The parents were invited to New York City to view the installation, which will remain open for 24 hours. The Duke and Duchess joined a convening of close to 50 affected families at the memorial for a private vigil and moment of remembrance. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were visibly in sync and deeply engaged throughout the event, taking their time with each parent, offering comfort and consoling those in tears.
They started the Parents’ Network last year, and they gave an interview to CBS last year as well. Plus, Harry’s address at the Clinton Global Initiative last fall was about the Parents’ Network. On Wednesday night, both Harry and Meghan spoke to People Magazine and the BBC:
When reporters asked what advice they would give new parents about social media and their children, Harry responded: “The easiest thing to say is: Keep your kids away from social media. The sad reality is that the kids who aren’t on social media normally get bullied at school because they can’t be part of the same conversations as everybody else…. Life is better off of social media. I say that as a parent, and I say that as someone who’s spoken to many of the kids here tonight who lost a brother or a sister to social media. But clearly, enough is not enough. Enough is not being done.”
“Some of the stories here are truly harrowing,” Harry added. “You think you’ve heard the worst of it until nights like this, here in America. Some of these stories — they are crime scenes — and these companies are getting away with it by saying, ‘We don’t need to give you disclosure.’ For families, some of the arguments that are being made around privacy — you’re telling a parent, you’re telling a dad and a mum that they can’t have the details of what happened.”
When it comes to the changes they’d like to see, Meghan, who hopes to take the installation global, shared: “I think the work that we’ve been doing through the foundation — specifically the Parent Network in this program, creating this community for all of these parents, and the families, the friends of the friends of these children — to really be able to maximize the global messaging on it. Because it is a universal truth that our children are in harm’s way by what’s happening online. I think for those who do choose to be online and to be on social media — as adults as well — that we get to set the example and really put as much good and joy into the world as we can,” added Meghan, who recently returned to Instagram, but has kept her comments turned off.
“It’s like that old quote: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.’ And I think in many ways, what we see through these parents is the hope and the promise of something better,” she said. “Because every single one of them and their resilience is an example…They just want to make sure this doesn’t happen. We are just here to support them in that in such a huge way. One of the fathers said, ‘All these photographs, as you can see, illustrate the children that are lost. But we don’t have photographs of all the children who will be saved.'”
Harry then said: “It is a community that should not need to exist.”
You can also read the Sussex.com update on The Lost Screen Memorial here. This is very important work and I hope they continue to pressure social media companies (especially) to alter their policies and their community standards.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images, Instagram.
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