“Screen-Free Day” Initiative in a Seminar at the BA
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The Bibliotheca Alexandrina organized a seminar entitled “Protecting Children from the Dangers of the Internet: Towards a Screen-Free Day,” which addressed the “Screen-Free Day” initiative that encourages children and young people to stay away from screens and engage in useful activities.
Speakers at the seminar included Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; Dr. Mona El-Hadidi, Professor of Media at the Faculty of Media, Cairo University, and founder of the initiative; Dr. Heba El-Semary, Dean of the Faculty of Media and Public Relations at Nahda University; Dr. Amany Albert, Dean of the Alexandria Media Institute; and Dr. Ramy Atta, Head of the Journalism Department at the Higher Institute of Media at Al-Shorouk Academy.
The seminar was followed by comments from Dr. Naela Emara, Dean of the Faculty of Media at Pharos University; Dr. Basant Murad, Professor of Radio and Television at the Faculty of Media – Cairo University; Dr. Noha Ghaly, Professor of Radio and Television at Damanhour University; and Dr. Al-Sadiq Al-Faqih, Secretary General of the Arab Thought Forum.
In his opening speech, Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, stressed the importance of childhood in human life, pointing out that families currently face significant challenges at this stage due to rapid technological changes.
He stressed the need to pay attention to initiatives that call for regulating the use of technology, most notably the “Screen Free Day” initiative launched by Dr. Mona El-Hadidi to reduce the risks of internet use on children, stating that banning screens must be accompanied by compensatory activities such as sports, reading, theater, and music.
For her part, Dr. Mona El-Hadidi said that the “Screen Free Day” initiative aims to regulate internet use as much as possible in order to pay attention to life and organize and manage time.
She said that the initiative seeks to solve the major problems resulting from excessive screen use, most notably for children, as forced exposure to the internet causes a kind of internal conflict and exacerbates negative feelings, particularly violence. She added that the initiative calls for providing alternatives and useful activities away from screens, such as reading, sports, and hobbies.