Responding to the well-founded educational cry that places the points on the letters and affirms that "the collapse of the school begins at the threshold of the home," we must take one more step toward the depth of the problem.
اضافة اعلان
Acknowledging the family's responsibility is the beginning of the solution, but the greater challenge today lies in the question: why have homes abandoned their role? And what has stolen children from the embrace of family upbringing?
The clear truth is that homes are no longer closed off as they once were. "Digital distractions" have stormed them through small screens that children hold before they learn to read.
In the past, the word "shameful" was backed by a homogeneous community environment. Today, a child receives parallel and hybrid values from "influencers" and content creators who glorify rebellion, mock the dignity of teachers, and turn disrespect toward elders into a kind of "charisma" and mischievous cleverness.
This digital intrusion has made modern upbringing a "daily struggle." Parents no longer raise children alone; they are competing with algorithms designed to capture attention and isolate children behind virtual walls.
Here lies the paradox: in many cases the home has transformed from a fortress of upbringing into a mere "hotel" for sleeping and eating, and a station for charging phones!
In numbers: the behavioral price of digital unruliness
The discussion of screens' impact is no longer merely spontaneous fear or educational exaggeration, but a scientific reality tracked by major medical institutions and recently published global research:
Behavioral unruliness and rebellion: A major reference study published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, covering more than 2.8 million children and adolescents, found that excessive screen use is closely linked to the emergence of outward unruly behaviors, including rebellion, deliberately breaking rules and regulations, and negative confrontation with those around them.
Behavior and aggression crisis: According to data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), teenagers who exceed two hours of daily recreational screen use have a 73% higher risk of developing behavioral problems and conduct disorders compared to their peers.
Addiction and loss of control: The World Health Organization (WHO), in its latest 2024 report, confirmed that more than 11% of adolescents show clear addictive behaviors toward social media, and face a complete inability to control themselves, which is reflected in declining respect for boundaries and daily duties.
Erosion of skills and self-control: A 2025 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that more than half of adolescents spend over 4 hours a day on recreational screens, which neuroscientists link to deterioration of executive brain functions, declining capacity for self-restraint, and increased behavioral impulsivity.
We demand that repairing the home be a condition for repairing education. We're not asking families for the impossible; we're simply reminding them of educational sovereignty. Schools alone can't work miracles, and homes won't work miracles either if they continue practicing upbringing by remote direction.
Restoring the generation's moral fiber is not merely nostalgia for the past; it is a fierce and silent battle of awareness, in which the family must win first, so that tomorrow the school finds something to refine and polish.
To ensure this talk doesn't remain a theoretical diagnosis, and because restoring the dignity of homes requires smart strategies that keep pace with the times, I place in the hands of every Jordanian and Arab family a practical roadmap in which discipline rules are integrated with real alternatives:
First: imposing "digital sovereignty" and eliminating parents' technological illiteracy
Tech-free zones and times: Enforce a strict household rule prohibiting phone use entirely at the dinner table, in bedrooms at night, and during regular family sessions, given their direct effect on sleep quality and behavior.
Eliminating parents' "digital illiteracy": No space can be managed whose tools we don't understand. Parents must develop their technical awareness of the platforms and apps their children use, since parental ignorance of the digital reality is the first gap through which unruliness seeps in.
A family digital agreement: Draft a flexible, written "contract" in which the children take part, specifying daily device usage hours and the consequences of breaking it, such as temporary loss of privileges.
Smart technical filtering: Activate intelligent parental control apps, not for spying, but to regulate time and block content that is indecent or incites violence or moral disrespect.
Second: creating alternatives and replacing false pleasure with real pleasure
Activating "alternative pleasure": Bare deprivation creates reaction and impulsiveness; therefore, taking the phone away should not be presented as punishment, but as replacing a "false virtual pleasure" with "real, genuine pleasure" by directing their energies toward physical activities, a sports club, programming and robotics courses, and exploratory trips.
Reviving the "conversation table": Set aside 20 minutes daily for open conversation free of criticism or reprimand, asking about the details of their day, their friends, and their interests.
Assigning real responsibilities: Involve children in managing household details (shopping, simple maintenance, organization) to strengthen their sense of responsibility and connection to reality, away from the illusion of the virtual world.
Third: instilling values through example and an alliance with the community environment
Upbringing through digital example: A father or mother cannot demand that a child put down the phone while they're themselves absorbed in scrolling social media; parents are the first and most important screen children look at.
Humanizing boundaries and the word "shameful": Link the system of ethics (respect, modesty, and honoring elders) to religious and social identity, and explain "why this behavior is wrong" rather than relying on dry prohibition alone.
A strategic alliance with the school and community: Build regular communication with teachers and parent councils, and deliver a clear, firm message to the child that home and school stand on the same side. Alongside this, activate the role of youth, civil, and religious institutions in providing safe spaces that embrace the energies of the younger generation and support the family in its mission.
Reforming education in our country certainly begins with a step parents take toward their children within their homes. When the home regains its dignity, our schools regain their standing and imposing edifice, and we reap the fruits of a conscious Jordanian and Arab generation that combines keeping pace with the times and moral integrity.
Mathematics teacher at a government school, Ali Mahmoud Al-Duweiri
Reporting by Ali Mahmoud Al-Duweiri
