“Planning cannot solve all problems, while cell phones cannot be blamed for every danger.”
Such a simple text was sent to the phones of thousands of parents recently.
Another text message advised parents to talk for just five minutes with their children every day and ask them about what they watch on their phones and their friends and listen to them attentively.
These text messages are part of a new campaign by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and the nation’s mobile operators.
It aims to spread digital awareness and encourage families to engage in open conversations with their children about their online experiences.
The campaign comes as smartphones, social media platforms and online games become an integral part of daily life for children and teenagers.
While these technologies offer opportunities for learning and creativity, they also expose young users to challenges, including cyber-bullying; online exploitation; inappropriate content, and privacy risks.
Parents are also referred to Wa3i.net, a platform launched recently by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to provide educational and interactive content for children; teenagers; young people, and parents.
The platform answers most of the questions parents are asked in an increasingly interconnected world.
Platform visitors can find information about ways to deal with digital addiction; cyber bullying; online blackmail, and exposure to harmful content.
The platform also offers practical advice on internet safety, privacy protection and positive digital behaviour.
The campaign is an important step in Egypt’s efforts to promote digital safety and protect children online, experts said.
It also demonstrates the state’s commitment to integrating digital safety into citizens’ everyday lives.
“Digital protection isn’t a technical issue any more,” Randa Mostafa El-Deeb, a professor of child education at Tanta University, said.
“It has become an essential component of social security,” she told The Egyptian Mail.
She noted that protecting children online is directly linked to supporting family stability and safeguarding future generations.
The rapid spread of internet access; smartphones; social media platforms, and electronic games, El-Deeb said, has created new challenges that require greater awareness.
These include, she added, online exploitation, exposure to inappropriate content and the sharing of personal information without sufficient understanding of the risks involved.
“This is why children’s rights extend beyond education and healthcare to include digital protection,” Professor El-Deeb said.
“Children must be taught how to use technology safely and responsibly,” she added.
Other specialists believe traditional approaches based solely on restricting access are no longer effective in an era of digital openness.
The solution, they add, lies, not in prevention, but in guidance, which makes it necessary for families to acquire the knowledge and the tools necessary for carrying out their educational role in helping their children navigate the digital world safely.
Behavioural digital psychology consultant, Nevine Hosny, adopts a similar point of view.
She described the digital transformation reshaping society as a “reality” that cannot be ignored.
“The existence of risks doesn’t mean we should reject technology,” Hosny said.
“It only points to the need for raising awareness about how to use it safely,” she told this newspaper.
She acknowledged the difficulties parents face in monitoring every platform, application and online activity used by their children.
This is why, she said, dialogue and trust are more important than surveillance.
For Hosny, the real challenge lies, not in technology, but in how it is used.
“We should empower children to use technology for education, creativity and personal development rather than allowing its use to become random or harmful,” she said.
