Children under the age of 15 in the UAE will soon need to find alternative ways to entertain themselves.
On Thursday, the UAE Cabinet – led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai – announced a social media ban for children under 15. Platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube will soon be off-limits to younger users.
For anyone devastated by the news, I bring a message of hope.
I was born in the late 1980s, meaning I not only spent my childhood in an era before social media existed, but also before the internet was even a thing. There was no TikTok. No Instagram. No Snapchat. Facebook wouldn't arrive until I was at university.
And yet, somehow, my generation managed to survive.
I appreciate that this may be difficult for younger readers to comprehend. The idea that people once existed without documenting every moment of their lives or constantly staring at a screen can seem far-fetched. But I assure you, it is true.
Believe it or not, there are other ways to fill the hours between waking and bedtime. Entire generations found ways to occupy themselves before likes, followers and viral trends existed.
So, for anyone wondering what life without social media might look like, don't panic. The world is not ending. And for parents unsure how to fill screen-free hours, here are a few suggestions.
Read a book
It’s a revolutionary concept, I know. Books entertained people for centuries before anyone felt the need to turn them into content. They require no Wi-Fi, no charging and no comments section.
When I was a child, I spent a lot of my time reading. Not because it was educational or character-building, but because it was genuinely fun. I could disappear into another world for hours and nobody expected me to post about it afterwards.
And the best part? Books will never ask you to "like and subscribe" or interrupt the story with a pop-up advert.
Touch sand
This would be the UAE version of "touching grass".
When I was growing up, going to the beach involved swimming, building sandcastles and occasionally getting sunburnt. Today, it often seems to involve finding the perfect angle for a carefully curated photo.
Perhaps this social media ban presents an opportunity to rediscover the original purpose of a beach (weather-permitting): just being at one.
Talk to friends in person
This may feel unfamiliar to some these days, but this age-old practice involves meeting another human being and having a conversation without simultaneously sending memes, voice notes or disappearing messages.
Before social media, arranging to meet friends required actual planning. You picked a time and a place and simply trusted that everyone would show up. Sometimes they didn't. It built resilience.
Become an expert in something random
One of the great joys of childhood is becoming inexplicably obsessed with a niche subject. Learn every world flag. Memorise dinosaur names. Become an authority on Formula One. Figure out every capital city on Earth.
Long before algorithms told people what to care about, we developed interests entirely on our own. Some of us even turned them into careers.
Watch a movie without looking at your phone
This once felt like an obvious thing to do. Many of the greatest films ever made were released before anyone felt the urge to simultaneously watch, text, scroll and check notifications.
Try sitting through an entire film while focusing on only one screen. Some may find it surprisingly enjoyable. Or they may spend the entire time wondering what everyone else is doing. It's OK, growth takes time.
Develop a hobby
Learn to draw. Take up photography. Bake cookies. Play football. Learn an instrument. The enduring interests of many adults began not because an algorithm suggested them, but because they were bored and decided to try something.
When I was a child, I did gymnastics and wrote in journals. Decades later, I still write for a living. The gymnastics didn't quite work out (I wanted to be in the Olympics), but at least one childhood hobby paid off.
The best thing about hobbies is that they give you something to look forward to, whether anyone else knows about it or not.
Embrace boredom
Before smartphones, boredom was a regular part of life. It was annoying, certainly, but it also forced people to be creative. Entire inventions, stories and questionable adventures started because we had nothing better to do.
When I was growing up, boredom often meant going outside for hours, riding bikes or exploring the neighbourhood with friends and returning home only when it started getting dark.
Not every minute of the day needed to be recorded and shared. Sometimes you were just bored. So while the prospect of life without social media may feel alarming, history suggests otherwise.
Humanity made it through several thousand years without it. And so can you. Who knows? You might even enjoy it.
