"My son is right under my eyes, he plays on the phone most of the time and doesn't go outside the house." This is a reality many parents believe in, thinking that having a child under the roof of the house guarantees their safety from the dangers of "the street." However, relevant authorities hold a different view, highlighting the importance of raising parents' awareness that "digital danger" has become the most influential threat in the world of childhood and youth alike.
اضافة اعلان
In a direct message to parents, an awareness campaign broadcast on local radio stations, one parents hear repeatedly, points out that a child being inside the house doesn't necessarily mean they are far from danger, especially when they're absorbed in electronic games that allow them to communicate and interact with other people online.
The content of the ad begins with a dialogue in which a father reassures the mother that their son is in his room playing with his friends and feeling safe, while the other side of the ad shows that the son is simultaneously engaged in another conversation filled with talk tinged with "danger," abuse, and direct harassment.
A Call to Contact the Number 119 When Facing Danger
The ad concludes by advising parents of the need to monitor their children's games and pay attention to what they might encounter while playing, affirming that a child is "not safe even if playing under the roof of the house," while calling for contacting the number 119 when facing a problem or danger.
The ad, issued by the Public Security Directorate, the Cybercrime Unit, and the Criminal Investigation Department, focuses on several digital risks and delivers the message that "digital awareness protects you and protects your family."
Locally, a recent study published in 2026, covering 403 teenagers aged between 10 and 17, showed that participants spent an average of about 3.1 hours a day playing, with a gap in awareness of the risks associated with use, as 36.7% of participants reported not having received any awareness or guidance about the potential harms of electronic games, while more than a quarter did not believe games could harm their physical or mental health.
According to the results, a higher number of hours spent playing was linked to worse assessments of physical and mental health, while parents emerged as the main source of awareness for participants who had received guidance, reflecting the importance of the family's role in dealing with children's digital world.
In the same context, the Family and Juvenile Protection Department at the Public Security Directorate has intensified its awareness publications about the risks of games and digital platforms, under the title "Watch their games. Exploitation can start with a word," calling on parents to pay attention to indicators showing the source of danger in games.
Parental Supervision and Choosing Appropriate Content
Amid the growing commentary around such awareness campaigns, parent Obada Eid advised parents to regulate their children's use of electronic games and not leave them for long hours in front of the phone, while providing alternatives such as drawing, sports, and physical games, alongside using parental control tools and choosing games and content appropriate for their age.
Samira Oudat also commented, saying that regulating a child's time in front of electronic devices is necessary, by setting clear hours for use while choosing meaningful, age-appropriate content, and leaving room for entertainment and games so the child doesn't feel that boundaries mean deprivation.
Meanwhile, Umm Kareem, a mother of two, commented that due to the nature of where she lives and her children's young age, she can't let her two children play outside, which is what leads her to leave them for hours in their room watching programs on their own tablet, sharing games with each other.
But Umm Kareem doesn't deny that she has to leave them alone for some time while she's busy, though she occasionally monitors what they watch through special apps and programs that enable her to do so.
However, according to public relations, communications, business consulting, and digital media consultant Bashir Mreish, digital safety is not achieved simply by knowing how many hours a child spends in front of a screen, because modern games have often become social environments that include text and voice chats, groups, friendships, and content sharing.
Grooming May Begin in a Way That Seems Simple
Mreish believes the concept of "safety inside the home" no longer necessarily means digital safety, as a child may be sitting in their room in front of their family, but at the same time be communicating with people they don't know through a game or digital platform, opening the door to risks such as cyberbullying, fraud, sharing personal information and malicious links, alongside attempts to build a trusting relationship with the child in order to manipulate them.
He notes that this manipulation can begin in a way that seems simple, such as someone getting to know the child within the game and helping them or gifting them virtual items, then starting a conversation and gradually asking for personal information or moving to another chat platform, before attempting to exploit that trust to obtain images or information or threatening the child with exposing what was obtained.
Mreish points out that the problem doesn't lie in the game alone, but in the person behind the account and in the level of awareness and protection surrounding the child. Among the signs parents should not ignore: the child becoming very secretive about who they're talking to, or their behavior changing after playing, or feeling fear and anxiety when messages and notifications arrive, or insisting on hiding the device screen, or a stranger beginning to contact them across more than one platform.
Seeking Help from Relevant Authorities When There Is a Threat
He affirms that more important than watching for these signs is building an environment that makes the child able to tell their parents without fear of punishment, alongside activating age-appropriate parental control tools, restricting voice and text chat when possible, reviewing privacy settings, controlling in-game purchases, and enabling two-factor authentication for accounts.
If a child is subjected to an attempted extortion or manipulation, Mreish advises parents not to enter into negotiations with the person attempting extortion or pay them, and not to require the child to confront the person alone, but instead to preserve evidence, stop communication, use the platform's reporting tools, and seek help from relevant authorities when there is a threat, extortion, or exploitation.
From a psychological and educational perspective, psychological and educational consultant Dr. Suad Ghaith believes that "parental supervision alone is not enough to protect a child in the digital world," because parents cannot be with the child every moment or know everything they encounter within games and platforms, highlighting the importance of "digital parental mediation" based on dialogue, guidance, and engagement, rather than prohibition and surveillance alone.
Ghaith explains that building a safe relationship with the child represents an essential protective tool, so that the child feels able to tell their parents if they experience cyberbullying, extortion, abuse, or contact with someone who makes them uncomfortable, or if they see content that scares or confuses them. But if they expect the reaction to be blame, punishment, and having the device taken away, they may resort to hiding what happened, turning supervision in this case into an obstacle to protection.
Mindful Parenting and the Responsibility of Protecting Children
Ghaith notes the need for supervision to match the child's age, level of awareness, and maturity. A younger child needs direct supervision and greater limits on time and content, while as they grow older there should be a gradual shift from external control to "digital self-regulation," by teaching them how to set limits for their own use, choose content, manage their time, recognize risks, and know when to ask for help.
Ghaith points out that the goal is neither to keep children away from the digital world nor to leave them in it without boundaries, but to raise them to be aware, responsible users capable of protecting themselves even in their parents' absence.
Alongside this, a child needs a rich, real-world alternative, such as a warm relationship with parents, family time away from screens, physical activity, friends, hobbies, and spaces for play. The more varied and appealing this world is, the less likely digital platforms are to become the child's only world and primary source of enjoyment and interaction.
Moving from the Concept of "Surveillance" to "Digital Partnership"
Ghaith stresses that parents' own awareness is an essential part of digital protection, through knowing the games and platforms their children use and their privacy settings, age-appropriate content, in game purchases, and reporting mechanisms, alongside making sure that use doesn't affect the child's sleep, schoolwork, nutrition, and daily life.
Between surveillance and dialogue, Mreish believes the real challenge is not preventing the child from using technology, since it has become a natural part of their life, but teaching them how to use it safely and responsibly, warning that excessive surveillance may push the child to hide their activity, while a lack of supervision leaves them facing risks they may not have enough experience to handle.
Mreish and Ghaith agree that the solution lies in shifting from the concept of "surveillance" to "digital partnership," by knowing the games children use and trying some of them together, talking about the people they communicate with, setting clear rules appropriate to their age, and using parental control tools as a supporting means rather than a substitute for dialogue. Most importantly, the child should feel that their parents are a "safe place" rather than a source of fear.
Resource:Al-Ghad. Reporting:Taghreed Al-Sa'aydeh
