Specialists have confirmed that reading remains the most important means of feeding a child's imagination and developing their mental and emotional skills, at a time when screens are dominating the attention of new generations, offering fast content that limits their ability to focus and weakens their interaction with stories and books. They noted the need for a new balance between paper and technology for children. This came during a dialogue session titled "Between the Book and the Screens: How Do We Restore Balance to Childhood?", held as part of the activities of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2025, with the participation of writer and publisher, Noor Arab, and pediatrician and artificial intelligence researcher, Dr. Muawia Al Aliwi. At the outset of the session, Noor Arab clarified that the printed book remains an emotional and human experience that screens cannot replace, as it grants the child a state of calm and focus and enhances their emotional communication with their parents. She added that reading is not limited to acquiring language, but is a gateway to imagination and creativity, confirming that new generations need innovative methods to present knowledge, such as interactive books and audio stories, but she stressed that these media should remain a complement to the printed book, not a substitute for it. On his part, Dr. Muawia Al Aliwi spoke about the scientific impact of screens on the brain, explaining that excessive exposure to quick clips releases large amounts of dopamine that gives the child a temporary feeling of happiness, but it reduces their ability to focus in the long term. He pointed out that reading works to train the brain on patience and imagination and reactivates its creativity centers. Al Aliwi called for the use of modern technologies with awareness and for the creation of means that combine fun and benefit, such as smart books that interact with the reader according to their age and interests, confirming that the challenge does not lie in keeping children away from screens, but in teaching them how to balance between the two worlds, so that the printed book remains the deepest source of inspiration for building a reading and creative generation.
