Dad, the Wi-Fi Is Gone!

It was shortly after midnight when I was awakened by a loud commotion in my house. Children were shouting, doors were opening and closing, and there was an unusual sense of panic in the air. Half asleep, I rushed out of my room thinking that something serious had happened.

“Dad, did you pay the bill?” my son asked anxiously.

“What bill?” I replied.

“The Wi-Fi bill! There is no internet at home!”

At that moment, I realized that the emergency was not a fire, a health issue, or a security concern. The crisis was the absence of Wi-Fi.

Within minutes, I noticed the disappointment on the faces of my children. Their online games had stopped. Their social media feeds had disappeared. Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and countless other digital platforms had suddenly become inaccessible. The silence that followed was remarkable.

This incident reminded me of another recent experience. One of the children had secretly used his mother’s bank card details to subscribe to an online gaming service without fully understanding the financial consequences. When his mother later discovered that money had been deducted from her account, she was shocked and understandably upset.

The child, however, viewed it as a simple step to continue playing his favorite game. The episode revealed how digital convenience can sometimes blur a young person’s understanding of money, responsibility, and consequences.

As I sat reflecting on the situation, several questions came to my mind. Are our children using the internet, or is the internet using them? At what point does convenience become dependency? When does entertainment transform into addiction? Most importantly, what are we gaining, and what are we losing?

The following day, these thoughts accompanied me into the classroom where I teach economics and finance. Like many lecturers around the world, I often observe students checking social media during lectures. Their attention shifts rapidly from educational content to notifications, messages, videos, and online conversations.

Sometimes I ask them a simple question:

“Who invented Instagram? Who created Snapchat? Who founded Facebook? Who developed Twitter? Who pioneered Artificial Intelligence?”

The classroom usually falls silent. This silence is not due to a lack of intelligence. Rather, it reveals something deeper. Many young people are highly skilled at consuming technology but know very little about creating it. They know how to scroll, but not necessarily how to build. They know how to use applications, but not how those applications influence their thinking and behavior.

The Canadian philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan famously stated, “We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.” This observation appears more relevant today than ever before. Social media platforms are not neutral spaces. They are carefully designed systems competing for one scarce resource: human attention.

In his influential book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr argues that constant exposure to digital media can reduce our ability to concentrate deeply and engage in sustained critical thinking. Similarly, in Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport warns that technology should serve our values rather than dictate them.

The issue, therefore, is not technology itself. Technology is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing healthcare, education, transportation, and business. Social media has empowered entrepreneurs, connected families across continents, and provided unprecedented access to information.

Indeed, I have seen many students use social media constructively. Some promote their startup businesses, market products, create educational content, and build professional networks. These are examples of technology creating value and opportunity.

However, every technological advancement comes with a hidden cost. Economists often speak about “opportunity cost”—the value of what we sacrifice when we choose one option over another. Every hour spent endlessly scrolling through social media may be an hour not spent reading, learning a skill, engaging in meaningful conversation, or developing creativity.

The challenge facing modern society is therefore not technological access but technological wisdom.

This discussion aligns closely with the message repeatedly emphasized by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who has consistently highlighted the importance of building human capabilities, investing in knowledge, developing skills, and preparing future generations for a knowledge-based economy. Technology should be a tool that strengthens human potential rather than weakens it.

A nation does not become competitive merely because its citizens consume advanced technologies. It becomes competitive when its people innovate, invent, research, and create solutions. The future belongs not only to those who use Artificial Intelligence but to those who understand it, improve it, and employ it ethically for the benefit of society.

As a father, my role is not simply to restrict screen time. My responsibility is to teach my children how to think critically about the digital world around them. As an educator, my role is not merely to deliver lectures but to encourage students to move beyond passive consumption and become active contributors to society.

Perhaps the real question is not whether social media is good or bad. Every generation faces its own tools and challenges. The more important question is whether we remain in control of those tools.

The night the Wi-Fi stopped working taught me an unexpected lesson. The silence in the house revealed how deeply technology has entered our lives. Yet it also reminded me that while machines can provide information, only human beings can provide wisdom.

Technology can connect us to the world, but it should never disconnect us from ourselves.