The issue of electronic games and their influence upon mental and social health is not a marginal concern, nor is it limited to entertainment ethics. Rather, it constitutes a foundational question in contemporary Islamic pedagogy (al-tarbiyah al-islāmiyyah), particularly as it relates to the safeguarding of the child (ḥifẓ al-nashʾah), the stability of the family, and the continuity of religious identity. When examined carefully, electronic games—together with their accompanying audiovisual stimuli—emerge as one of the most powerful tools shaping behavior, cognition, and social orientation in the modern age.

It must be noted that these games are not value-neutral. They are produced within specific cultural, ideological, and economic frameworks, and are disseminated globally with deliberate design choices that influence perception, desire, and habit formation. Their widespread accessibility has rendered them present in the daily lives of children across all age groups, often without meaningful supervision. This unrestricted access has transformed electronic games into a primary environment of socialization, rivaling—if not replacing—the family, the school, and the religious space in formative influence.

From an analytical perspective, this phenomenon represents a form of soft infiltration (ikhtirāq nāʿim), whereby values, behavioral norms, and cognitive patterns are transmitted indirectly. Unlike overt ideological confrontation, this method operates through pleasure, repetition, and emotional engagement. Over time, such exposure produces gradual but profound changes in attitudes, priorities, and conduct, especially among children whose cognitive and moral frameworks are still under construction.

One of the most concerning outcomes associated with excessive engagement in electronic games and screen media is the increasing prevalence of social withdrawal and developmental difficulties, including autism spectrum–like symptoms and related neurodevelopmental patterns. While autism is a multifactorial neurodevelopmental condition with strong genetic and early neurobiological determinants, recent empirical studies and observational data indicate that prolonged isolation, reduced real-world interaction, and excessive screen exposure are associated with worse developmental outcomes and increased ASD-like symptom expression in children. For example, a cohort study using national child health data found that higher screen time (e.g., 4 + hours per day) was correlated with increased autism-like symptoms and that less daily parent-child play was associated with more pronounced social-communication concerns in toddlers. Higher everyday screen viewing was also associated with greater symptom severity and social communication deficits in preschool-aged children.

Additional research using the ScreenQ measure reported that among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, higher levels of screen exposure were significantly correlated with greater symptom severity and lower developmental scores, and that screen use without active adult facilitation was related to impaired social interaction outcomes.

Other longitudinal findings show that early and greater screen time in infancy and toddlerhood is associated with atypical sensory processing and developmental profiles that are risk factors for later social and communication difficulties.

Although systematic reviews emphasize the largely observational nature of this research and note that causality cannot be definitively established, the pattern across multiple studies is consistent: greater daily screen time and less face-to-face social interaction are linked with more pronounced autism spectrum–like traits, reduced social engagement, and related developmental concerns.

Importantly, these risks are compounded when parental oversight and active engagement are absent, since digital devices then become substitutes for emotional presence, real social stimulation, and structured upbringing. Interventional studies that reduced children’s screen time while increasing guided social interaction found significant improvements in core symptoms and family stress, providing evidence that parental involvement and social engagement can partially mitigate detrimental patterns seen with high unsupervised screen exposure. 

In such cases, electronic games cease to be mere pastimes and instead become dominant psychological environments. Children immersed in these environments often exhibit diminished emotional regulation, weakened attention spans, and reduced capacity for interpersonal engagement. Families may gradually lose their formative role, while external commercial entities profit from both the production of these games and the subsequent treatments required for the psychological conditions exacerbated by them.

It is within this context that Islamic guidance on child upbringing must be revisited—not as abstract moral instruction, but as a comprehensive developmental framework grounded in realism and human nature (fiṭrah). The Prophetic and Imamic narrations concerning stages of childhood are particularly instructive, as they outline a structured model of growth that balances freedom, discipline, and companionship.

We read in Wasa'il us shia, Vol 21, P476 where prophet(saws) says: