Before iPhone 17 launch: How Dubai mums keep children away from the Apple hype

I have the iPhone 33.

You’re lying. There’s only 17.

It exists, my mother has it.

Dubai-based Thelia was listening to her eight-year-old squabbling with her friends over an iPhone. Her little one was absolutely determined to not be outdone by her classmates who had iPhones, and angrily said that she too, had one. Unable to really pinpoint a feature on the phone, the child defiantly told her friends that her mother was far ahead of them in iPhone collections; “What are you all waiting for iPhone 17 for, when I have the iPhone 33?”

There was a round of resentful mutterings, and Thelia had to politely intervene in this summit of angry children. As she says, “My daughter has been asking me for iPhone for years now, because she keeps hearing her classmates talk about it. It’s such a craze. She actually has no idea about it, and just knows about the ‘good camera’. And I still say no. She has a basic phone to use in emergencies, and she is absolutely furious about it,” adds Thelia. She sat her daughter down, explaining that lying to friends was wrong and that she wouldn’t be getting an iPhone anytime soon—not an old model, and certainly not the newest one.

It all ties into the discussion on smartphones. Thelia and her husband have a firm rule: no smartphones, especially expensive ones like iPhones, until their daughter turns 14. “I’ve seen what it does to children. They just spend so much time on it, gaming, scrolling, completely zoning out any possible communication around them, and I really do not want her growing up like that,” she says.

Similarly, Dubai-based Atika Khanna, mother of 14-year-old twin girls, doesn’t think it’s necessary for her daughters to own such expensive, feature-rich phones at a young age. "I think it’s more about having something just to fit in, to show their peers they belong," she says. And she also believes that the children at that age, won’t really know how to look after the phones properly.

For other parents, the answer is even simpler. Reem Maroun, a working mother of two young children in Dubai, says cheerfully: “They can demand all they want.” On a more serious note, she says that her children too young, and is also lucky that neither of them are bothered about the iPhone. “I have a phone at home, for emergencies. I wanted them to learn how to make calls in case they have to,” she explains.

And what if they insist on it? Reem clearly says, “No. And they’re not on social media either.”

Dubai-based Matt Smith, a media professional echoes a similar philosophy: “I took my kids to the old-school mall at Al Wadha - Grand Mall? - and they picked up classic toys, balloons, Lego, simple building toys. We spent four hours and phones, just playing that. No gadgets or phones. And they have never even thought about tablets, or phones. They just have a phone for emergency, to call us.”

Not all parents enforce a strict no-phone rule.

However, mums like Muna Alsumaiti, an Emirati mother from Dubai, to four children  aged 14, 12, 11 and 8, says that her children do possess iPhones. Does she worry about them being addicted? She breezily answers, that while yes, they are, but she also sets certain rigid limits for them, too.  “I give them a break in between not to use phone during meals, family quality time and limit before bed which is half an hour,” she says.

Given the rising anxiety around children and smartphones, how does she manage? “By monitoring their phone, behaviors, having family link to their accounts.  There are no downloads without permission,” explains Muna.

No doubt, there’s a clear link between increased smartphone use and declines in children’s physical and cognitive development, as Minu Matthews, a health psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University Dubai had earlier told us. There are a range of issues: Sleep quality is often compromised, especially when screens are used right before bedtime. This can trigger mental arousal, disrupt the circadian rhythm, and lead to overall poorer sleep. Socially, excessive smartphone use hampers children’s ability to form genuine connections, making it harder for them to engage in meaningful interactions outside the digital world.

So, how do you find the balance? After all, we are living in the digital age and children are too exposed to information from everywhere, as parents note.

Establish clear guidelines for screen time based on age-appropriate recommendations:

 Acknowledge educational benefits

 The importance of balance and moderation: