How can social media ads affect a child’s ideas of what is necessary to be happy? 

Parenting Perspective 

Social media advertisements are carefully designed to convince viewers that happiness can be achieved by buying certain products or living a particular lifestyle. For children, who are still in the process of forming their sense of identity, these kinds of messages can be particularly powerful and influential. Advertisements that promote the latest toys, clothes, gadgets, or other appearance-based ideals may lead children to believe that their joy and their worth depend on what they own or how they look. 

Shaping Unrealistic Expectations 

Constant exposure to this kind of advertising can create the false and damaging impression that happiness is tied to material things. A child may begin to say things like, “I will only be happy if I get that new toy,” or “Everyone in my class has this except for me.” This mindset distracts them from appreciating the blessings that they already have. 

Fostering Pressure and Dissatisfaction 

This constant exposure to advertising can create a number of negative feelings in a child. 

• Children may feel pressured to keep up with their peers who appear to have the latest items. 

• They may become dissatisfied with the simple joys of life, beginning to see them as less valuable than material possessions. 

• Over time, this can foster a sense of entitlement and can decrease their capacity for gratitude. 

Creating Strain on the Parent-Child Relationship 

When parents cannot, or choose not to, buy every product that an advertisement promotes, the child may feel deprived or even unloved, without realising the manipulative nature of modern advertising. This can cause unnecessary conflict and tension within the home. 

Guiding Children Through Media Influence 

Parents can respond to this challenge by: 

• Explaining in age-appropriate ways that advertisements are designed to sell products, not to define what makes a person happy. 

• Encouraging a sense of gratitude through daily family routines, such as sharing one blessing that you are thankful for at bedtime. 

• Offering experiences, such as unstructured play, deep conversation, and other family activities, to show that true happiness comes from connection, not consumption. 

By teaching children to question the messages they see in the media, parents can help them to build a strong resilience against materialism and nurture a deeper and more lasting sense of joy. 

Spiritual Insight 

Islam teaches that true and lasting happiness is found not in our worldly possessions but in a sense of contentment (qana’a) and gratitude (shukr). Social media advertisements that constantly link happiness to the act of buying can distract our children from these timeless and more meaningful values. 

Contentment Over Consumption 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Hadeed (57), Verses 20: 

‘Note that indeed, the life of this world is only: a drama; and amusement; and ostentatious; and superficial bragging between yourselves; and unbridled desire for capitalism and offspring…’ 

This verse reminds us that worldly possessions are temporary and often a source of distraction. True and lasting happiness cannot be built upon them. 

The Prophet’s ﷺ Teaching on Contentment 

It is recorded in Jami Tirmidhi, Hadith 2373, that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘Wealth is not in having many possessions. Rather, true wealth is the richness of the soul.’ 

This Hadith teaches us that true wealth and happiness come from a state of inner satisfaction, not from material gain. 

When parents guide their children to value gratitude, simplicity, and meaningful experiences, they are equipping them with the tools they need to resist the pressures of advertising. Children can then grow up with the understanding that real happiness is found in the remembrance of Allah, in strong and loving family bonds, and in a life of purpose, rather than in the fleeting possessions that are promoted on a screen.