Islamic Educational Strategies for Preventing Social Media Addiction among Adolescents

Abstract

The rapid development of digital technology has transformed social media into a primary space for social interaction, identity formation, and everyday communication among adolescents. This transformation has also raised growing global concerns about the increasingly compulsive nature of social media use, which in many cases resembles behavioral addiction. Although the academic literature on social media addiction continues to expand, many studies still approach this issue primarily from the perspective of individual psychological vulnerability or limited digital literacy. As a result, interventions focusing mainly on technological control or digital skill enhancement often demonstrate limited effectiveness in reducing excessive social media engagement among adolescents. Addressing this gap, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework explaining how Islamic educational strategies can strengthen adolescents’ self-regulation, ethical awareness, and digital responsibility as preventive mechanisms against social media addiction. This study employs a qualitative conceptual approach through conceptual framework development and theoretical synthesis of relevant academic literature. The analysis integrates three main domains of knowledge: adolescent developmental psychology, social media addiction studies, and Islamic educational philosophy. The findings suggest that Islamic educational values such as Tazkiyah al-Nafs, muraqabah, and the principle of moderation (Wasatiyyah) can reinforce adolescents’ internal self-regulation and ethical awareness in digital media use. The proposed conceptual model highlights three interconnected dimensions spiritual development, moral character formation, and ethical digital literacy as protective factors against excessive social media engagement.