Social media is so addictive, Duchess tells students

THE Duchess of Cambridge has warned that social media can become “so addictive”, saying it is “hard to break away from”.

The Duchess, who met school students yesterday to discuss the challenges they face, said she had learnt the online world can become “part of your lifestyle”, with negative as well as positive connotations.

Raising questions over whether social media put too much pressure on young people, she emphasised the importance of students monitoring their own healthy use of apps.

The Duchess, who is pregnant with her third child, visited Reach Academy in Feltham, west London, a school working with children’s mental health charity Place2b.

In her first public engagement of 2018, the Duchess spoke to older children about the challenges of social media and asked them: “Do you feel that social media puts a lot of pressure on young people?”

After hearing some of their stories, she said: “From what we’ve been learning from the work we’ve been doing [with Heads Together] it can get so addictive,” she added. “It becomes part of your lifestyle, doesn’t it?

Her words echo sentiments shared by her husband and brother-in-law, and come a day after it emerged her future sister-in-law Meghan Markle has deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The Duke of Cambridge has previously warned “there is a sense of being ‘on call’ 24/7 through social media” which can “take its toll” on young people. Prince Harry has said: “People are spending far too much time online and it’s like a mental running machine that they can’t get off.”