Khaberni - The social specialist and head of the activities department at the Association for Awareness and Care of Juveniles, Aisha Al Kindi, warned that seeking revenge, or rapid fame, and obtaining more likes and followers, can push some juveniles to cross boundaries while using their smartphones, without considering that a video published in seconds could be circulated for years, affecting their educational or professional future, possibly moving the incident from their phone screen to the corridors of the courts.
She revealed cases reflecting the dangers of the digital scene, where teenagers and children engage in revenge actions following minor disputes, such as a child who was shocked by a composite image of his face on an exposed body that was circulated among his peers, leading him into a state of deep embarrassment causing him to refuse to go to school, before it was found that the image was created using publicly available fabrication apps, and that a colleague of his had posted it after a minor argument between them.
She emphasized that bullying sometimes is not direct, as it may take a silent form, through deliberate exclusion from a class group, or indirect hints, leading to isolation and a decline in academic performance, despite the lack of clear verbal abuse, noting that digital safety has become a necessary educational requirement, not an option, amid a rapidly changing electronic environment, emphasizing the importance of monitoring children's usage of smart devices systematically, knowing the apps and accounts they interact with, and setting clear times for use to achieve a balance between the digital and real worlds.
She explained that digital bullying could start with a sarcastic comment and evolve into defamation campaigns, while electronic enticement relies on fake accounts that exploit the emotional needs or natural curiosity of teenagers, gradually pushing them to share private information or photos. She also alerted that electronic blackmail has become more complicated, as it can be based on simple information published in public accounts, asserting that any photo or information shared digitally can remain retrievable even after being deleted.
She recounted the case of a teenager who began spending long hours talking with a digital persona, preferring it over communication with his family, which negatively impacted his presence in family and educational settings, pointing out the growing attachment to chatbots and virtual characters.
Al Kindi highlighted that the juvenile phase is one of the most sensitive stages, as children are more susceptible to being influenced by their external environment, which requires a conscious family presence that balances between firmness, containment, and supervision.
She mentioned that some of the challenges spread across platforms could include self-harm or harm to others, violation of individuals' privacy, or intrusion into private spaces, which exposes the perpetrators to accountability.
She reported an incident where a group of teenagers tried to emulate a challenge popular on a platform, resulting in one of them suffering injuries that required medical intervention, confirming that some of these behaviors could lead to legal repercussions.
She pointed to emerging challenges based on artificial intelligence technologies, such as face swapping or high-precision voice imitation, which allows for the production of fake clips that look entirely real, and can be used in defamation or extortion, increasing the difficulty of distinguishing between real and fabricated.
She insisted that addressing these challenges is not achieved through fear or absolute prohibition, but by building a solid digital awareness, which relies on teaching children self-protection skills, managing privacy settings, refusing friend requests from strangers, and reporting any offensive content, and enhancing trust between them and their families to seek support without hesitation.
She also confirmed the rise in emotional extortion cases, noting the case of a girl who connected with an account claiming to be a boy her age, and after months of communication, he requested a private photo "to enhance trust," then began threatening her if she did not comply with his demands.
She highlighted that the real challenge does not lie in the device itself, but in the hidden world inside it, where reality mixes with fabricated content, and safe relationships intermingle with unsafe ones, calling for the establishment of a concept of "digital upbringing" as a daily practice starting from open dialogue and building trust, rather than prohibition or confiscation, explaining that equipping children with knowledge and responsibility is the most important line of defense in a fast-changing digital space, and that a family that balances firmness and containment sets its children on a safer and more stable path.
