Prince Harry and Meghan Markle share their parenting rule: Why belly laughs beat screens and social media for kids

When you hear Prince Harry and Meghan Markle talk about parenting, it’s easy to think what they go through is completely out of reach for most of us. But if you listen closely to what they actually say about raising their kids, Archie and Lilibet, there’s something deeply human in it. And actually, a lot of it feels like advice we could take home ourselves.Meghan and Harry talk a lot about being present, actually there, in the messy, noisy, unplugged moments of family life. They’ve said that what matters isn’t flawless pictures or Instagram‑ready routines, it’s real laughter, real mess, and real connection. Meghan has pointed out that a genuine belly laugh, the kind that makes your stomach hurt, can’t be faked with emojis. And she thinks that kind of moment is exactly what kids need more than anything else. In a virtual appearance at an Oprah book launch, which was hosted by Gayle King, with authors Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price about their new book, The Amazing Generation, the Royal couple spoke about raising kids in a digital world."You were saying, you cannot replace the feeling of a deep, guttural belly laugh. An emoji laugh is not the same physiological response that we need, that our kids need," Meghan said. "What I love is that the more that we encourage our children to do this, we mimic those same behaviours. We also start to play, and we also start to be more present."Last year, on Hasan Minhaj's podcast, Prince Harry spoke on the topic of phones for their kids. "I think that because of what we know now, we will be way more cautious and hesitant of allowing our kids to have access to social media, but the problem is, so many parents don't have that awareness," he said in the podcast. "I don't know if you guys have hit this crossroads yet, but what are you going to do when your kids ask for a cell phone? Are you going to give them a phone? Have you talked to Meghan about this, cause I've talked to my wife about this," host Hasan Minhaj had asked him. "You're right, a lot of parents feel as if they don't have a choice, and a lot of kids don't have a choice. Because the reality is, if you're talking about just having a smart phone and an old-school phone are two very different things," Prince Harry said. "If you want to be able to contact your kid, maybe we should just be giving them the old-school phone… but I think that our goal has to be to make sure that when our children get to that age, that the situation now isn't the situation then. There's no reason why it should be."When asked what is the age he thinks for kids to join social media, the Duke said once the brain is properly formed and once you are starting to learn who you are. He then said, "Twenty-one is a sensible age, but the companies won't ever allow that. They will throw tens of millions of dollars to lobby against that."