SIBF 2025: Authors urge parents to swap screen time for story time

Authors and experts in children’s development at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025) urged parents to take an active role in nurturing reading habits in their children, warning that excessive screen exposure can diminish creativity, concentration, and imagination.

Speaking during a discussion titled “Juggling Between Books and Screens: How Can We Restore Balance in Child Rearing?”, panelists explored how families can cultivate curiosity and cognitive growth in an age dominated by digital devices.

Dr Muawiya Al-Aliwi, paediatrician and author of several books on children’s health, explained that prolonged screen exposure overstimulates the brain’s dopamine response, which can hinder attention and imaginative thinking. “When a child sits in front of the screen for hours displaying short, colourful clips, it activates the happiness hormone dopamine, reducing concentration and imagination,” he said. “If you expose the child to other activities, they can focus more.”

Dr Al-Aliwi recommended integrating reading-based activities into daily routines to reinforce focus and comprehension. He encouraged parents to read short passages aloud and engage children with questions and creative writing tasks. “Give them paper and a pen to write what they learned from the story,” he advised. “A child who reads from an early age will develop a vocabulary of over a million words and be better equipped to face life with confidence.”

Children’s author Noor Arab observed that technology has reshaped the reading habits of younger generations, but books remain irreplaceable in nurturing creativity and calm. “In the era of e-books and the internet, the tastes of children have changed,” she said. “Technology brings the world to their hands, but only real reading, not screens, can give them the sense of calm before sleep.”

Arab emphasised that it is vital for families to understand the transformative power of reading. “Some families tell me their children don’t enjoy reading, but when parents value books, it changes the child’s attitude,” she noted. “Nothing can replace a book. It gives them the power of imagination and creativity.”

Looking ahead, Arab predicted that while books may evolve to include elements like augmented reality, the act of reading will remain the foundation connecting all forms of learning and creative exploration.

SIBF 2025, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) under the theme ‘Between You and a Book’, runs until November 16 days at Expo Centre Sharjah. This year’s edition features more than 300 cultural events led by 158 Arab and international guests, over 750 workshops in Arabic and English covering writing, publishing, and creativity, and 85 stage performances from 12 countries—continuing Sharjah’s long-standing mission to promote reading as a cornerstone of knowledge and connection.