UAE children react to under-15 social media ban: No TikTok? More time for play, sports and friends

No Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat?

15-year-old Dubai-based Myra Prasad admits she would find it rather difficult to adjust without those apps. "Mostly all teenagers use these apps to talk to friends. If we cannot use them, we would feel disconnected from our friends."

Yet, she also sees the upside. "They could also encourage kids to spend less time on social media, and spend time on other hobbies." She adds that it does benefit younger children too: They might be protected from cyberbullying.

She isn't the only one with mixed feelings.

For a generation that has grown up sending TikToks instead of text messages, swapping memes instead of chats, and discovering the world by scrolling, the UAE's new social media restrictions for children under 15 have sparked much conversation.

Some worry they will lose touch with their friends. Others think it might be the time to hit pause on the distractions.

Many are on the fence

So what do children themselves think?

No doubt, there’s joy scrolling through reels. Yet, there’s more fun when you can keep sending them to your friends. And it's that badminton rally-like exchange, what many will miss.

13-year-old Sara Salem from Dubai is one of them. "The hardest app to stop using is TikTok because that’s the only app I mostly use everyday to talk or send videos to my friends and get entertained,” she explains. 

The prospect of losing that connection worries her."These rules will change our everyday routine, since, we won’t have any social media to entertain ourselves with or text our family or friends."

Twelve-year-old Henry Pomroy echoes a similar sentiment. While he says  thathe mostly communicates through WhatsApp groups and gaming consoles, social media still plays an important role in how his friends interact. His mother created an Instagram account for him when he was eight to document holidays and family memories. Today, he mainly uses it to keep up with friends. "I would miss not sharing funny videos of cats or cartoon characters with my friends on Instagram,” he says, frankly. 

And while he doesn't think the rules will change how children use Google or browse websites, he wonders how they will continue sharing the content that often fuels their conversations. "It might change the way we message each other as I don’t know how we would share jokes and videos.”

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Eshal Rather asserts that social media serves another purpose: Helping young people stay informed. She prefers to look at both sides of the coin.

Although she says that she mainly uses YouTube and Pinterest, she worries about losing access to the constant flow of information shared by friends. "I had many friends who used social media and they would inform me on things going around the world, whether big or small, and now we will only have access to outdated information which would create fear of missing out,” she adds. 

She also fears younger teens could become disconnected from major events and lose the most common way of communicating with friends and extended family.

If one concern surfaced repeatedly, it was simple: boredom. What would children do without TikTok?

For 10-year-old Saif Salem, the issue comes down to entertainment. The app he would miss most is TikTok simply because, as he puts it, "it’s entertainment". Without platforms like that, he believes daily life for many children will change significantly.

Following the new rules may prove challenging, not because children don’t understand them, but because it may simply feel much quieter. While he acknowledges one upside that it helps their eyes, he feels the downside is immediate: "no entertainment".

His sister Sara agrees that social media has become a major source of entertainment for many young people. "These rules are difficult for children to follow, since our main entertainment is social media and this generation isn’t used to not having social media."

Yet even among the children who enjoy social media, there is recognition that constant screen time comes with drawbacks. 

For instance, Eshal acknowledges that while the ban may create challenges, it could also remove distractions. “At the same time is could be positive, since in this age group social media could be a major distraction which impacts many different things including sports activities and studies."

Nine-year-old Kyler Evertse sees clear benefits. He believes the changes could help children develop healthier habits. "I think these rules could help kids spend less time online and avoid becoming too addicted to screens."

He says the adjustment may not be easy at first, particularly for children accustomed to spending significant time on phones and tablets. Nevertheless, he believes that the long-term gains could be worthwhile. "One benefit is that more children will spend less time in front of screens and more time playing, exercising, and doing activities like swimming, football, or spending time with friends and family."

His brother, 11-year-old Theon, has similar ideas. After all, this is the age for children to spend more time outdoors, be active and just be with friends and family.  At the same time, he points out that social media can have genuine value. "I think social media entertains kids, makes them happy, and can sometimes help them relax and relieve stress."

Perhaps the most surprising voices come from children who are largely indifferent to the restrictions. For instance,  14-year-old Rachel Ann Lewis has grown up with strict limits on social media and has never felt particularly deprived."I would love to use social media, but my mother has always kept me under fairly strict restrictions, and I am only allowed to start using it after I turn 16. This is a good thing,” she says. 

She prefers to meet people instead, and also points to the pressure that she sees, that affects some of her peers. "There is constant pressure to compare ourselves with others on social media.” Worse, as she implies this is also the age of cyberbullying and trolling, which can really rupture a child’s vulnerabilities. So perhaps, this might actually be a boon, instead. 

Nine-year-old Ameerah Bilal Arif is equally unconcerned. Unlike many children her age, she says she doesn't care much for TikTok or Instagram. “I mostly use Zoom to video call my cousins and friends."

As far as she is concerned, the new rules won't affect her social life at all.

For many children, the hardest platforms to step away from are the ones that combine entertainment with friendships.

“I think it’s TikTok and Instagram because a lot connectivity goes on in these apps like chatting with friends, and its also a place to stay updated with the outside world compared to other apps like Snapchat,” says Dubai-based Joanna Lobo.

She believes the way children use the internet is linked to social interaction and daily communication.

This is why, she says, the new rules may feel like a major adjustment for her age group.

“This kind of rule could be frustrating for people of my age, especially since social media has become a big part of our daily lives. For us, social media is a means to stay connected and spend time with one another. So shifting back to a lifestyle where entertainment is mostly offline activities or games could feel difficult and like a big adjustment.”

While children straddle both sides, parents tend to look at the bigger picture.  Henry's mother, Jola Chudy, believes the debate should centre on safety and long-term digital habits.  "When it comes to instances of bullying or exposure to inappropriate material online, these social problems have always existed - the internet has simply made them more visible and prolific."

In her work advising businesses on online reputation, she says that she has seen how early online behaviour can shape future habits. She points to risks such as online harassment through games and argues that these are the challenges regulators must address.

Nevertheless,  she suspects enforcing age restrictions will be easier said than done. "Setting an age limit is the easy part, but enforcing it is where it will get tested. We all know how determined teenagers can be.”

Fifteen-year-old Meera Salem believes there are many factors to consider when introducing new rules that affect young people. She notes that different children may experience the changes in different ways and that there are "multiple reasonable explanations" behind the measures being introduced.

Nevertheless, less scrolling, more playing, more meeting up — children say life will simply look a little different, but still stay connected in their own way.