One video follows another, wrapped in fear and anxiety accompanying every new story, as various tales circulate around the world about crimes committed against children, ranging from real incidents and awareness messages to others that carry a shocking and frightening tone.
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With the growing spread of this kind of content across social media platforms in recent years, it has come to reach a wide segment of parents, thereby affecting their outlook on their children's safety and the way they raise them.
Amid the digital openness that has become part of our children's lives today, many mothers and fathers find themselves facing a difficult equation: on one hand, they recognize the importance of making their children aware of the risks they might face, and on the other, they fear that excessive monitoring might instill fear in them or deprive them of living a normal, balanced childhood.
Fear Growing With Every New StoryUmm Mohammad (46) admits that she lives in a state of anxiety over her children, noting that her fear increases with every new story that trends on social media. However, Umm Mohammad fully understands the importance of not planting this fear in her children's hearts as well, given its negative long-term effects, as she puts it.
Umm Mohammad mentions that she tries to monitor her children in her own ways to ease her mind, but without making them feel it — she restricts the content her children can access on social media platforms, alongside monitoring them by surprise and checking their phones without their knowledge, so she stays aware of what they follow without worry or fear.
Meanwhile, Abu Ali (39) says he needed a long time before realizing the best approach to protecting his children. After having been a very strict father who monitored all their actions, he found himself ultimately placing his children in a position of weakness and fear.
So Abu Ali reflected on himself and changed the way he dealt with his children, instilling confidence in them and teaching them how to act if they were exposed to any harm, without being afraid of the world.
This took time and effort, but he noticed a change in his children's behavior and a strength in their personalities. Indeed, since it is impossible to isolate children from the digital world, there is a growing need to adopt parenting approaches based on dialogue, building trust, and conscious supervision.
Safe Use of Digital PlatformsIt is important to guide children toward the safe use of digital platforms in a way that preserves their psychological and physical safety without restricting their independence.
Here the question remains: how can parents strike a balance between protecting their children and making them aware of risks, while still giving them a safe and reassuring childhood?
Dr. Suad Ghaith, a specialist in psychological and educational counseling at The Hashemite University, explains that we should recognize that not every piece of news that reaches adults should reach children.
According to Ghaith, repeatedly exposing a child to clips of crimes, their news, or their bloody, criminal, and inhumane details does not increase their awareness — rather, it increases their sense of anxiety and fear, strips them of their sense of safety, and makes them believe the world is a dangerous place full of crime.
Accordingly, Ghaith stresses that children should not be exposed to such news, and that parents should take care to protect them from this shocking and frightening content, while providing them with the information they need in an age-appropriate way.
Ghaith explains that if a child hears about a crime or asks questions about it, it is best to answer honestly, without giving incorrect information, since it may stick in the child's mind. The conversation should be calm, free of exaggeration or denial, while affirming that such events are real and do happen, but they are not the norm — rather, they are exceptional cases that do not happen to everyone.
Ghaith notes that talking about crime should be used as an opportunity to teach children appropriate protective behaviors, such as not accompanying strangers, telling their parents about anything that causes them fear or worry, and not keeping secrets from them when they feel endangered.
Learning How to Act SafelyGhaith says: "We don't want to frighten the child about the world; we want to teach them how to act safely," noting that overexposing children to this type of content is very harmful, because at this stage their thinking is concrete and direct, and they cannot analyze matters in terms of probabilities — so fear alone takes hold of them.
Regarding the most effective parenting approach for building a child's awareness and protecting them, Ghaith explains that psychological experience shows that a child feels safe when they see their parents calm, confident, and capable of protecting them — not when their parents constantly warn and frighten them.
Accordingly, Ghaith mentions that the best parenting approaches rely on regular, calm dialogue, encourage the child to express their fears, give them a sense of safety while talking, and answer their questions clearly without exaggerating the dangers.
Ghaith emphasizes the importance of teaching children age-appropriate safety skills, such as what to do if they get lost or separated from their family, or if a stranger tries to talk to them or lure them.
Protection Does Not Mean Constant Supervision
Ghaith mentions that children can be trained for such situations through play or hypothetical scenarios, asking them: "What would you do if a stranger asked you to go with them? Or if you felt that someone's behavior seemed suspicious?" In this way, we prepare the child to deal with different life situations, stressing that when a child has these skills, their self-confidence increases and their sense of helplessness and fear decreases.
Ghaith affirms that protection does not mean keeping a child under constant surveillance, and independence does not mean leaving them without supervision — a child needs trust, but also needs supervision appropriate to their age and maturity.
This balance is achieved when the degree of supervision matches the child's age, according to Ghaith; as the child grows older, we give them a greater degree of independence, gradually reducing supervision without cutting it off entirely, and giving them the chance to make decisions and take on responsibility gradually.
Ghaith mentions that a common mistake is that repeated news about crimes pushes some parents to prevent their children from playing, going out, mixing with people, or engaging in normal activities, out of fear of harm or accidents. This is called overprotection, and it does not prevent fate from happening — rather, it may make the child feel that the world is unsafe and negatively affect their psychological and social development.
Giving the Child a Chance to Build Self-Confidence
Ghaith stresses that what's needed is not to leave children without guidance, but to guide them and teach them appropriate safety rules. If a child sees news of a crime and feels afraid, they should be calmed and reassured, told that their parents are there to protect them, and that what happened is not common or something that happens every day.
Ghaith affirms that the goal is conscious protection, not protection based on fear. Clear safety rules should be set for children, teaching them how to act in different situations, and making sure they memorize their parents' or a relative's phone number so they can reach them in emergencies. At the same time, the child should be given the chance to gradually gain self-confidence and independence.
In the end: "The goal is not to raise children who are afraid of the world, but children who recognize that dangers exist, while also possessing the skills and confidence that enable them to deal with them wisely and safely."
On the other hand, phrases like "don't trust anyone" or "the world is full of criminals" should be avoided, because such phrases reinforce anxiety and fear. It is better to assure the child that we are there to protect them, that we will support them if they face any situation, and that we will guide them toward the right course of action.
Ghaith stresses that children should be taught not to fear such events happening to them, but rather to learn how to control their anger, how not to let anyone lure or exploit them, and to refuse anything that might put them at risk — thereby protecting themselves and preventing others from exploiting them.
Fear Caused by Constant Exposure to Online Content
From a psychological standpoint, psychologist Asma Toukan explains that through her work with children, she clearly sees how fear enters their world because of constant exposure to crime and accident stories on screens.
Toukan explains that a child, by nature, does not have enough maturity to understand that what they see is an incident separate from them, so they begin to feel that danger surrounds them everywhere and that the world is unsafe.
Toukan points out that as specialists, they can observe anxiety in children's behavior, such as repeatedly asking questions related to death and loss, excessive attachment to one or both parents, and refusing to go to school — as repeated exposure to such scenes makes the child experience it as if they were the victim.
Here, Toukan notes, the real crisis is not in our desire to raise their awareness, but in leaving them to face distressing content alone, without a conscious and reassuring dialogue that acknowledges the scale of their fears and channels them properly.
Toukan mentions that there are several psychological or behavioral signs that may indicate a child is suffering from fear or anxiety, which should be watched for, especially if they persist. Among the most important of these, according to Toukan, are sleep disturbances, such as difficulty falling asleep, interrupted sleep, or the child's insistence on sleeping next to their parents.
In addition to excessive attachment to parents and refusal to be apart from them, seeking reassurance through frequent questions about kidnapping or losing a family member, and avoiding play or leaving the house out of fear.
Frightening Thoughts and Mood Disturbances
On another note, quick irritability, excessive crying, and aggression without a clear reason are among these signs, in addition to physical symptoms of anxiety such as headaches, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing, exaggerated caution and fear of any stranger even in normal situations, and repeatedly checking that doors and windows are securely locked.
Also, poor concentration and academic decline resulting from constant preoccupation with frightening thoughts, mood disturbances, eating disturbances, and involuntary urination, especially in the evening.
Toukan affirms that successful awareness-raising is built on awareness itself, not on instilling fear in the child, and this can be achieved by talking to the child in simple, age-appropriate language, avoiding terrifying stories and shocking details, and teaching body-safety rules.
Most importantly, according to Toukan, is ensuring the building of a relationship based on trust, so that the child feels able to tell their parents about situations they may have faced without blame or fear of punishment. Training the child to act in dangerous situations through role-play, rather than relying solely on warnings, also sticks better in the child's memory.
In addition, monitoring the content the child follows on social media, and boosting their self-confidence and encouraging them to make age-appropriate decisions, since the more confident a child is, the greater their ability to protect themselves.
Toukan agrees with Ghaith that overusing frightening phrases directly with a child as a parenting method may instill anxiety in them and affect their psychological and social development — such as repeating the phrase "the world is scary, don't trust anyone" — and suggests replacing it with wise, indirect stories, and teaching the child to distinguish between safe and unsafe situations, in order to preserve their development with a balanced sense that combines confidence and awareness.
In closing, Toukan affirms that the children most capable of protecting themselves are not the most fearful ones, but those who feel safe within their families, know their rights, and trust that there is someone who will listen to them and believe them if they need help.
