How online trends are disrupting the core of education - children’s safety

When the topic of education arises, we often speak about the right to learning, access to schools, curricula and equal opportunity. But there is a more urgent question we must ask today. How can education succeed if a child does not feel safe?

Safety here is not an abstract idea. It is a basic condition for learning. A child cannot learn while afraid, cannot think while threatened, and cannot thrive in an environment where physical or psychological safety is uncertain.

Schools and all learning spaces must be safe before they can truly be instructive — and many already work tirelessly to ensure this. Yet the nature of risk has changed. Many of the dangers children face today do not arrive as deliberate harm, but as jokes, challenges or fleeting online trends that move rapidly from social media into children’s lives, sometimes reaching classrooms without warning.

In recent months, we have seen children engage in dangerous physical behaviours such as choking, breath-holding and pressure on the neck or head. We have also seen the spread of online challenges, including those that involve inflicting pain or injury for peer approval. Many children do not fully understand the risks involved. They see these acts as games, experiments or a way to belong. This is where the real danger lies.

We cannot protect children through prohibition alone. Nor through fear or punishment. Curiosity is a natural part of childhood, and the desire to experiment is not, in itself, a failing. Risk emerges when curiosity is left without guidance, explanation, or open conversation. Awareness is the first line of protection. Children must understand what is safe, what is harmful, and how to express curiosity without harming themselves or others.

Protecting children in educational settings, therefore, goes beyond stopping harmful behaviour. It requires building a child’s capacity to think critically, to distinguish between safe and unsafe actions, and to make informed decisions. This means explaining why certain behaviours are dangerous, not simply banning them. It also means speaking openly with children about what they encounter online, what they hear from peers, and the pressures they may face, while giving them the confidence to ask for help without fear or shame.

Addressing peer pressure and violent behaviour is a shared responsibility. When educational institutions continue to make clear that such conduct will be met with firm educational and disciplinary measures — and referred to relevant authorities in serious cases — they send an unambiguous message: child safety is non-negotiable. That message, however, is incomplete without a genuine partnership with families. A culture of safety begins at home through open dialogue, informed supervision of online activities, and reinforcing the belief that refusing to participate is a strength and that safety must always come before imitation.

Responsibility does not rest with schools alone, nor with families alone. It lies with everyone entrusted with a child’s well-being. Teachers, counsellors, parents and all organisations working with children must remain informed about what children experience, what attracts them, and what may place them at risk. We must not discover harm only after it has occurred.

The Child Safety, an entity of Sharjah Family and Community Council, calls for these behaviours to be recognised as early warning signs rather than isolated incidents. Every concerning action is a signal that requires understanding and timely intervention by both schools and families. The rapid spread of dangerous online challenges makes it clear that child protection today is not only a matter of awareness but also of preventive policy, continuous monitoring, and effective cooperation between educational institutions, families, and relevant authorities.

We have the awareness, the tools and the collective will to break cycles of harm and peer pressure. When efforts are aligned, safety becomes a reality rather than a slogan. Children deserve schools that protect them before they teach them, environments that foster confidence rather than fear, and futures built on awareness and trust, not on risk and imitation.

We must reaffirm a simple truth: a safe and informed childhood is the cornerstone of meaningful education. Our children deserve nothing less — today, and every day.

Hanadi Al Yafei is Director General of The Child Safety in Sharjah, Chairperson of Kanaf’s Higher Committee