English
العربية
Français
Deutsch
Español
русский
हिंदी
اردو
LoginAware Family: Protecting Children from Digital Risks
Doha, September 22 (QNA) - The Ministry of Social Development and Family launched the national campaign "Digitally Aware Family" under the slogan "Their Protection, Your Responsibility," with the participation of 20 national entities.
The initiative aims to enhance digital safety awareness and empower families to guide their children toward safe, balanced, and responsible technology use.
The campaign highlights the importance of fostering digital awareness within the family amid rapid digital transformation and the increasing reliance of children and youth on smartphones, social media platforms, electronic games, and digital services.
It focuses on encouraging open dialogue, family guidance, and digital responsibility alongside monitoring device usage.
In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Director of the Family Development Department at the Ministry Fatima Al Nuaimi stated that the campaign aims to raise awareness among children and parents about digital risks and prevention methods, while instilling positive digital behaviors across online platforms and games.
She noted that digital safety has evolved beyond a technical issue into a family and societal matter requiring an integrated national effort to safeguard values, mental health, and family dynamics.
Spanning 14 weeks from September to December, the campaign features over 120 educational materials and activities, including videos, guides, media content, workshops, lectures, school visits, and direct meetings with parents.
To provide a unified hub for these resources, Al Nuaimi added, the Ministry launched the eSafety.qa website as a central platform for reliable information and support. The initiative aligns with the Ministry's 2025–2030 strategy under the theme "From Care to Empowerment" and supports Qatar National Vision 2030 in human and social development.
She said the involvement of 20 national entities, including ministries, institutions, and centers specializing in education, health, cybersecurity, and family welfare, ensures unified messaging and wider community reach.
This partnership forms part of a broader framework led by the Ministry's Digital Safety Committee for Children and Adolescents to study digital safety, propose policies, and recommend legislative and technical measures.
Across these efforts, the campaign specifically addresses daily digital hazards, such as excessive screen time, digital addiction, exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, online extortion, in-game purchases, privacy risks, communicating with strangers, and online misinformation.
Al Nuaimi explained that the campaign delivers its message through a three-stage awareness journey.
She added that it begins with building awareness of risks and unsafe content, moves to practical protection measures such as securing accounts, data, and privacy while enabling parental controls, and concludes with instilling digital responsibility, explaining rights and duties, and detailing support and reporting mechanisms.
She noted that the Ministry uses a combination of media tools, digital content, guides, workshops, school visits, and its specialized website to reach families.
Regarding achieving digital balance, Executive Director of the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) Dr. Sharifa Al Emadi stated that balance means organizing technology's place in a child's life so it serves education and entertainment without displacing sleep, physical activity, or family time.
She highlighted that fostering family time is essential, referencing the "Tanshea" program, run with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, where students spending over 10 hours weekly with their families rose from 49.5 percent to 55.3 percent.
Dr. Al Emadi emphasized that effective dialogue begins with listening rather than punishment.
Citing DIFI's 2024 study, "State of Qatari Families: Strengths and Challenges," conducted with Qatar University's SESRI, she noted that 70.97 percent of participants identified "effective communication" as a main family strength. She cautioned that fear of immediate restriction prevents children from reporting disturbing online encounters, urging parents to maintain open, continuous conversations and create a supportive environment.
Furthermore, Dr. Al Emadi stressed that digital literacy is now a core component of parenting.
Referencing DIFI's current-year study, "Adolescent Well-being in Qatar," she noted that over 78 percent of adolescents reported that their parents "always" or "often" use social media at home. She added that research conducted in partnership with Hamad Bin Khalifa University, WISE, and WISH demonstrates a direct link between parental problematic internet use and similar behavior in children, highlighting parental digital role modeling, privacy awareness, and self-reflection as vital factors in protecting youth online.
Dr. Al Emadi outlined practical rules for balanced technology use, including establishing clear usage schedules, setting device-free zones like dining tables and bedrooms, reviewing apps and accounts, choosing age-appropriate content, and explaining the purpose of these boundaries to children.
She emphasized that reducing screen time requires appealing real-world alternatives, positive parental modeling, and quality family time, such as during meals or school commutes, to foster trust and identify challenges early.
In a similar statement, AI and Cybersecurity Expert Dr. Mohammed Al Saqatri detailed online risks facing youth, including cyberbullying, extortion via online multiplayer games, account theft, malicious links, and exposure to inappropriate content.
He urged parents to practice digital upbringing through open dialogue, monitoring behavior for sudden changes like isolation, enforcing strong passwords with multi-factor authentication, and teaching children to protect personal information, privacy settings, and photos.
Dr. Al Saqatri also highlighted risks associated with AI-generated deceptive content and secretive online requests, stressing that while parental control tools are essential, the ultimate goal is building internal digital literacy and trust so children make safe decisions independently.
Experts concluded that modern digital protection has shifted from viewing technology as a threat to treating it as a positive tool, making digital safety an integral component of modern parenting. (QNA)
chat
Hello! How can we help?
Beta
