Technology and its consequences, including modern digital tools and artificial intelligence, are now dominating the landscape of the world in which we live. This clearly increases the pressure on parents and places a new burden on their shoulders, not only to facilitate their lives, but to protect their loved ones and communicate with them effectively. The absence of an effective role of parents in this area may lead to serious consequences and a dangerous family gap, leaving children vulnerable to the risks of technology and its harmful effects.
Technology has become the environment in which our children live and spend most of their time. In light of this reality, digital literacy for parents becomes an urgent necessity to ensure family stability.
There are parents who are unable to understand this complex digital world, and this inability paralyzes their ability to communicate with their children. For example, many parents are unable to understand the challenges their children face, such as cyberbullying, gaming addiction, or exposure to inappropriate content. This absence can expose children to great dangers.
To change this reality, communities and educational institutions must immediately begin providing dedicated and comprehensive training programs for parents, enabling them to deal with technology and monitor their children’s use of the Internet. Parents must also learn how to use parental control programs, and there must be communication between the school and parents to spread awareness.
Digital literacy is not limited only to the technical aspect, but extends beyond that to the ethical and security aspect. Community and educational institutions must teach parents and guide them on how to discuss digital risks with their children, and teach children how to act when facing dangerous situations on the Internet.
Digital literacy is not just a luxury, but rather an absolute necessity and a national and societal duty. Parents must rush to this, and communities and educational institutions must take the initiative and extend a helping hand in this field. We also urgently need today for parents to have the courage, patience, and faith to ride the train of technological development, to ensure the security and protection of their children, so it is a call for everyone to take advantage of the summer vacation to eliminate digital illiteracy.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, College of Engineering, Abu Dhabi University
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