Harry warns youngsters about ‘crazy and scary’ social media
PRINCE Harry has branded social media ‘ crazy and scary’, warning that youngsters are ‘spending far too much time online’.
He told a group of young people that by constantly being glued to phones and computers, they are risking their mental health.
During the visit to Copenhagen yesterday he added: ‘It’s crazy and scary ... people are spending far too much time online and it’s like a mental running machine that they can’t get off. You wouldn’t put your body through such a workout.’ But he admitted that even he found it difficult to switch off, saying: ‘I’m the last person to say ban it but people are suffering from mental fatigue and getting burnt out. We all need to talk to each other more.’
The prince has often been seen on his own phone, including at the Invictus Games in Toronto last month.
Harry, 33, was speaking on the second day of a tour to Denmark, where he met ambassadors for a charity who had all previously suffered from mental health conditions. He told them: ‘You have all been in a dark place, but have come through and your experiences are invaluable to help others.’
Afterwards, at the Danish Veterans Centre, he also had a private meeting with the parents of soldier Morten Krogh Jensen, whose coffin was loaded on the royal’s 2008 flight back from Afghanistan.
The prince has previously described that trip as one of the events which inspired him to create the Invictus Games, saying: ‘The way I viewed service and sacrifice changed forever. And the direction of my life changed with it.’ Before leaving the city, Harry told of his wish to visit a refugee camp ‘ very soon’, adding: ‘Knowing refugees or hearing their stories gives you an understanding greater than a newspaper article or any documentary.’
His American actress girlfriend Meghan Markle has previously told of how she combines her glamorous lifestyle with charity work, saying: ‘While my life shifts from refugee camps to red carpets, I choose them both because these worlds can, in fact, coexist. And for me, they must.’
Kensington Palace said there were ‘no current plans’ for Harry to visit a refugee camp.