How do I help my child find real connection when they're always on screens?

Rabia al-Adawiyya knew something we're forgetting: connection that matters isn't transactional. It's not about the number of interactions—it's about presence. When your child lives partly online, the real work isn't eliminating screens. It's creating spaces where presence becomes irresistible. Start small. Not a family phone ban (that rarely works), but a genuine *thing* you do together where screens don't fit: cooking, walking, sitting quietly. Notice what happens when boredom sets in—that's where real conversation lives. Your child doesn't need you to be their friend online. They need to know you're someone they can be truly seen by, without performing. The harder part? Model it yourself. Children watch where your attention actually goes, not where you say it should go. If you're checking your phone during dinner, they're learning that connection is interruptible. If you put it away and actually listen—even when they're not saying much—you're teaching devotion in the way Rabia meant it: not as obligation, but as love that doesn't keep score. The goal isn't less screen time. It's more real belonging. Everything else follows from that.