Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
March 10, 2025
That children and adolescents spend too much time in front of a screen is an undeniable truth of the modern world, and one that many of us are confronted with on a daily basis. It is another matter that often parents and grown-ups are all too often guilty of the charge as well. But the worry is greater regarding younger people, as the possible long-term neurological effects in crucial formative years – physically, mentally and emotionally – from excessive screen time, while still being researched, is a cause of great global concern. One of the guidelines of the American Paediatric Association is: screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
People of various backgrounds are susceptible to these pernicious realities of the digital age, the fixation with screens, social media and the effects of unchecked access to devices on the development and behaviours of growing children.
To address precisely these issues, Abu Dhabi has opened the country’s first digital detox clinic for children. The UAE has a reputation for technological innovation, strong health provision and being ahead of the curve.
Professional help could increasingly be the third alternative as specialists and clinics, as the one in Abu Dhabi, grow to address this problem
It is thus unsurprising yet creditable that the Emirates would take the lead to tackle a persistent issue that is present in one too many households and devise a six-step programme to help young people and families keep within the bounds of what is permissible screen time and what is excessive and thus unhealthy at several levels.
Screen addiction among young people manifests in many different ways: disrupted sleep, deteriorating eyesight and or poor posture – from being exposed to the screen’s blue light and hunched over phone screens and holding iPads. In terms of harm caused, last year, an economist and trend analyst Bronwyn Williams even likened social media addiction to smoking.
As for the mental and emotional tolls of excessive screen time, they become apparent when children become less socially involved in actual human interactions, feel anxious or withdrawn if the device is taken away from them, and even lose some ability to concentrate on a task for any significant period of time, as attention spans infamously plummet with increased screen time.
Dr Dinesh Banur, chair of paediatrics and consultant paediatrician at Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre, where the digital detox clinic is based, told The National: "Digital addiction has become one of the most pervasive yet unrecognised health issues of our time.”
What can be done about this rests in large part with parents, caregivers and schools, with whom the task of monitoring and setting limits on screen time lies. Beyond those primary guardrails, professional help could increasingly be the third alternative as specialists and clinics, as the one in Abu Dhabi, grow to address this problem.
Considering, however, that screens are likely to be a fixture in the modern world and there’s no turning back from the digital age – neither are devices likely to be taken away altogether by parents – one part of the solution of the screen time dilemma perhaps lies in communicating the ill-effects, helping young people understand the problem, and persisting, as parents must, in trying to achieve the right balance.
Digital detox: Abu Dhabi opens first clinic to tackle child screen addiction
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Result
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2
Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.
