Key recommendations from 3rd FMF in its last day

This comes to support the cohesion and stability of families in carrying out their mission, to instill upright values and ethics in the minds of future generations, and to protect them from negative media attacks that affect their minds and values, as well as from various types of exploitation possible on social media platforms.

During the first session on the second and final day, several papers were presented, including "Investing and Qualifying the Appropriate Human Resources for the Family Media Message" by Dr. Salem Al Salem, a human resources expert. "Qualifying Media Students to Consider Family Values in Their Professional Work" by Dr. Hisham Abbas, Dean of the College of Communication at Al Qasimia University, and from Egypt, via the Internet, Ahmed Raafat, also known as the "Street Reporter", spoke about his experience with the programmes he presents on social media platforms and television stations. The media session was moderated by Aisha Othman.

Dr. Al Salem discussed the Kingdom of Bhutan as a model for family values and principles, noting that its people are among the happiest in the world and the most peaceful because they have taken advantage of its cognitive and informational revolutions, but their investment in their values and ethics has turned them into a daily creative energy that motivates them to embrace life with love and enjoyment and to strengthen and enhance the relationship between community members, stressing that the country's first goal is to protect families and develop their talents in order to build a peaceful and connected society.

Dr. Abbas explained in his paper the reality of the contribution of the curricula of communication and media colleges and departments in Emirati universities and their role in integrating the concepts of family media in their programmes and study plans. He emphasised that family media, due to its importance, can be a separate branch of specialised media, and it is necessary to establish separate colleges for family media to reach a new and unique experience that provides new elements in the field of media.

Ahmed Raafat talked about his experience with his humanitarian programmes, including the "Street Reporter" and "Mind Healer" programmes, which he offers through his YouTube channel, emphasising that his programmes are widely accepted because they touch the realities of wide segments of society.

Then, the Experience Platform presented a dialogue session titled "Between Media and Family," in which Fahad Haikal, Dr. Umayma Abu Al Khair, Dr. Nawal Askar, and Badr Al Shammari participated. The session was moderated by Dr. Abdulsalam Al Hammadi, and several topics were discussed, including challenges and opportunities and the relationship between specialists and practitioners in family sciences and media.

Dr. Abu Al Khair talked about the most prominent challenges facing specialists in the field of family sciences and how to deal with them. She stressed that studies, numbers, and statistics on the negative impact of media on families and children confirm the need to change our media message today, especially with the high divorce rates, especially among newlyweds.

Haikal talked about the untapped opportunity so far for practitioners in the field of creating awareness and promoting family values, saying, "What we need are values and morals to elevate the presented media content, whatever the means may be." He pointed out that the media should focus on the family. "Today, the industry of creating awareness is in the hands of individuals, and to control the matter and get rid of any trivial content, we must teach our children how to create ethical and purposeful content."

Dr. Nawal Askar talked about what can be offered to students to approach family values in their professional field and their message directed to the family. She mentioned that we must teach children how to use social media and monitor and guide them. We cannot prevent children from keeping up with development, technology, and innovation, and the problem is not in these means but in how we deal with them.

Badr Al Shammari spoke about the important role of the family in guidance and support and mentioned that influencers can play a strong role in delivering impactful messages to society and families. Therefore, we should invest in influencers who can reach the largest possible number of followers.

The participants gave an overview of their organisation and its latest achievements, as well as the publishing policy followed by the network, especially regarding families and children. They also proposed recommendations and suggestions to increase family awareness through the network's coverage and outputs and discussed the main challenges and opportunities in the professional practice of network members.

Media personality Abdullah Al Shihi talked about the creation of a specialised platform for children, which is the first of its kind in the country, in cooperation with the relevant authorities in the United Arab Emirates.

The qualifying platform provided two workshops: the first one for creating psychological influence in family media programmes, presented by media personality Dr. Saeed Al Amoudi, and the second titled "How to manage media institutions and programme production," presented by media personality Mohamed Ghanim. The workshops covered the key principles followed by media institutions to achieve success.

And the forum concluded with the following eight key recommendations:

1. To express appreciation to Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, for her patronage of family affairs, her interest in the Council's awareness programmes, and the support she provides in order for the Council to carry out its mission and uphold its values of unity.

2. The importance of developing a values-based yet appealing media education programme from kindergarten through high school.

3. Teaching children how to use digital tools to create media that is respectful of family values is an important part of developing their digital literacy.

4. Educating parents on the dangers of social media for children and how to protect their children from being targeted in ways that are inappropriate for their age and stage of development.

5. Establishing a regulatory authority to protect children and families from harmful "digital and other" media.

6. To fulfil their essential roles and obligations, families must shield their children, adolescents, and young people from the media's deliberate and destructive assaults on their developing minds and ethical framework.

7. Parents and other family members should make an effort to get to know their children and spend time with them, all in the hope of fostering family unity and strengthening bonds.

8. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority should regulate violent and other inappropriate content on the internet, especially on sites visited by children and teenagers.