Al-Madina RECENTLY I witnessed two young Saudi women escaping from their families. I was there when they arrived in France. Without the knowledge of their guardians, they went to the French authorities requesting permission to live in France. The issue was not abduction, as was rumored; the Saudi official authorities had announced this clearly. Until now, the case is still shrouded in mystery and confusion. Before this, there was the escape of another young woman to Georgia. There were also several other stories of escape by young men and women to several countries. It is a thorny issue and it is strange that such cases take place in our conservative society, when our regulations grant all the rights and meet all the demands for any individual in the society, especially when that person's escape is related to cases of violence or denial of rights. Our country is replete with societies, authorities and civil society institutions that guarantee these rights and strive to provide a safe family environment and social surrounding for all segments of society. The official bodies carry out the decisions as required by the regulations such that they guarantee the rights and demands of any wronged person. These stories, which are still limited in our society, require of us to understand very well their background and impact. I suspect that there is some ideology or thought creating an intellectual environment that is contrary to family education, obedience to parents and other related concepts. It is this ideology or thought that is influencing young men and women. If we contemplate on the latest episode specifically, we will find that there are some impacts from this case. I would like to warn all against the danger embedded in social media. Social media have become the focal point of ideas and thoughts that are contrary to our traditions. These media platforms cause our young men and women to keep on thinking of escaping from their families and resorting to similar acts. Therefore, it is very important for the civil society institutions and the authorities concerned, like the ministries and embassies, to conduct comprehensive studies based on the discovered cases. All the information surrounding every case ought to be collected. Then urgent solutions can be found so as to stop the escapes overseas by young men and women. I have fears that such cases will increase over the coming period, because of the success of previous attempts. Furthermore, there are ideas that are strange to our societies and contradict our religion. They spring from social media and cause those who are "glued" to computer screens to follow them and take this very dangerous path. I also believe that the families have a very important role to play. It is the cornerstone of this issue. They should watch and monitor their sons and daughters, and their conduct. Families must censor the social media that their sons and daughters are following so that they can benefit from what is useful and avoid what is dangerous and misguiding. The dangerous material on social media might lead to their escape abroad. I am afraid that such issues will form a phenomenon that will harm our society. They will give a different picture from the actual distinctive educational and social reality that Saudi families enjoy within the Kingdom and abroad. Hence, we can prevent such issues, which the Western media exploit in order to project a distorted image of Saudi Arabia, different from the bright image it enjoys among all the countries of the world.
