While visiting a youth club in London, Prince William shared what he thinks both children and parents need to get ‘better at’ and it's something all families struggle with - but it's easier said than done to kick the habit.
Modern parenting has brought with it both positives, with millennials thinking their approach to parenting is better than previous generations', and negatives, with new aspects of parenting to navigate, and worry about, like keeping kids safe on social media that just simply never existed before.
This is something all parents know - even the parents of royals! During a visit to WEST Youth Zone, a new youth club in White City, London, Prince William spoke with young people about the struggles they're facing and revealed the 'guilty' habit he wishes that both children and parents would give up.
Speaking with one youngster who confessed to scrolling on their phone for the majority of their days, William quickly reassured them, "The grown ups are guilty of it too," before urging everyone to spend less times on their phones. The worry is one that many parents, experts and politicians share. Two thirds of parents notice negative effects of screen time on their children, but there are ways to make screen time more positive and, no matter how much people talk about the negative side of it, there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn't feel guilty about screen time as a parent.
Still, we could all do with cutting down sometimes. "We have got to be better at it", William said before adding that people of all ages spend "ages on our phones" when we should be doing other activities with family and friends to spend quality time with them.
However, throughout the rest of his visit, he proved that nailing non-screen-based activities can be quite difficult. He played some basketball, managing to shoot the ball into the hoop on his fifth attempt. He then tried his hand at icing a biscuit, laughing as he said, "My wife is the arty one."
We did also get some insight into his life at home with Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, while he decorated his biscuit. After commenting on Kate Middleton's superior art skills, he added, "Even my children are artier than me!" As he carried on adding sprinkles and icing to his biscuit, he shared that his design was inspired by his kids, particularly Prince Louis, as he “loves sprinkles."
Keen to keep up conversation with the children at the youth centre, or perhaps to draw attention away from his interesting biscuit design, he quizzed the kids about their screen habits. "Are all of you on your phone quite a lot? Do you know how long you spend on your phones?" To those who said they spend a lot of time online, he asked, "Do you think it's a good idea to be on your phone all day?" When one child jokingly said it was a good idea, he faked outrage and made the kids burst out laughing as he asked, "Who said yes!?"
In other royal news, Meghan Markle has opened up about the ‘cruel’ and ‘hateful’ online bullying she experienced throughout her pregnancies, while Princess Diana’s brother recently revealed the ‘difficult’ job he undertook for his sister when she became a royal and shared her biggest childhood fear.
