Pakistan, June 13 -- As we marked the International Day of Play, we are reminded that play is not a distraction from learning but often its most essential vehicle. Yet as children shift from playgrounds to platforms and from face-to-face interactions to digital interfaces, the nature of play and the lessons it carries are evolving rapidly. Today's childhood unfolds not only in classrooms or living rooms, but in comment threads, voice chats, livestreams, and algorithmic feeds. With that shift, the responsibility to educate, protect, and empower the youngest generation must evolve too.

Children now enter the online world long before they understand it, often armed with instinct and curiosity but with little guidance or structure to protect...