The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) asked a question about the best way to express your love for your children against the backdrop of the controversy raised by English football legend, Michael Owen, this week after he declared that he “never tells his children” that he loves them, even though they represent to him “the most precious thing in existence.”
“I don’t say anything like that,” the father of four said in a podcast interview with Jimmy Ling. I simply assume that my actions will show them that I love them. “And I think most of us act that way.”
The BBC said that while some expressed their surprise at Owen's comments, stressing their constant keenness to tell their children their feelings, other parents indicated that they shared the former striker's point of view.
This discussion raised an important question: How important are actions, words, or both?
Experts confirm that a child's feeling of love stems from more than just a simple phrase.
Dr. Patricia Brito, an educational psychologist, says: “Although words are often important, what is most important is for the child to feel safe, valued, and emotionally stable.”
She continued: “We should not conclude that children have suffered psychological damage simply because they do not hear those words; They may feel love very clearly through actions.”
Dr. Brito adds that the most important issue for many children is the extent to which they feel that affection is “consistently expressed,” whether through words or actions, or - even better - a combination of both.
She explains this by saying: “If you tell a child, ‘I love you, I love you,’ but you do not attend any of his football matches or performances, he may not actually feel loved; He may see that they are just empty words.”
This opinion is supported by Father Aaron Dell, author of a book on raising children
He says: “It is not a matter of comparing words and actions; These elements should not compete with each other, but should complement each other.”
He adds: “Words are used to convey the message, while actions serve as practical evidence of it.”
Dale pointed out that his father would often say to him, “I love you,” after he let him down, which diminished the value and meaning of those words.
However, some parents believe that it is absolutely necessary for the child to hear expressions expressing their love for him. The father of a 7-year-old girl expressed his astonishment at Owen’s statements, describing them as “terrible.” He said: “You should always tell your children that you love them no matter what happens; “Whether they behaved badly or well.”
In a comment posted online in response to Owen's video, another father wrote: “Parents - or those planning to have children - don't listen to this man... Tell your kids you love them every day, even if it bothers them.”
Although Owen's statements sparked strong reactions, it is clear that there are countless ways in which parents express their love for their children.
Dr. Brito confirms that the most important thing of all is ensuring that children feel a sense of belonging. She asks: “Do they feel loved?” Do they feel wanted?
She adds: “Do they feel valuable and important, rather than just hearing words?”
The BBC noted that the former England striker spoke with moving feelings about his son James losing his sight in 2024, saying: “If I could give him my eyes... I would do it.” When the podcast host, Ling, urged him to explain why he did not freely say the phrase “I love you,” Owen replied that he “wish he was a little softer.”
“I'm definitely becoming softer, but I'm not yet at the point where I can say something like this,” he said.
Both Dale and Dr. Brito point out that the use of the word “soft” to describe children’s expressions of love reflects deeply rooted attitudes that many parents have toward parenting.
They say this results from different contexts, such as culture, social class, gender, and the gap between generations.
“I think that's the dangerous aspect of it,” Dale says. That is, the prevailing belief about what men should do and what they should not do.
He adds that many parents believe that their role is simply limited to “providing material needs,” when they can provide much more than that.
Giving and giving in Saudi culture have never been a passing stance or an emergency response, but rather an extension of a national identity that has made giving a sustainable approach that has transcended the boundaries of geography and crossed continents, extending a helping hand to millions of needy people in various parts of the earth, in a humanitarian journey that has made human dignity its constant focus and its highest goal.
At a time when the world celebrates the “International Day of Charity,” which falls on September 5 of each year, Saudi Arabia stands, with its honorable humanitarian history, as a nation that has made giving an identity, compassion a message, and solidarity a method. It provided 9,300 humanitarian, development and charitable projects in 175 countries, with a value exceeding $145 billion.
Saudi Arabia established the “King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief” on May 13, 2015, under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, to be the Kingdom’s humanitarian arm abroad and the body authorized to deliver its international aid. The Center has become a voice for the oppressed, a hope for the deprived, and a bridge over which convoys of goodness cross to every place where a person complains. Since its establishment, it has implemented 4,457 humanitarian and relief projects in 113 countries, with a value exceeding 8 billion dollars.
Because this Saudi giving extending to the four corners of the world needed a platform that organizes giving and directs charitable energies towards those who deserve it, the “Saudi Portal for External Volunteering” affiliated with the “King Salman Relief Center” came to connect volunteers with those in need, through the participation of 84,388 volunteers in 1,446 medical, training and other programs, from which two million and 857 thousand and 813 benefited. individuals in 59 countries, in addition to performing 273,350 surgical operations.
The center also supervised the “Saudi Program for Conjoined Twins”; He studied 158 cases and performed 72 successful operations on conjoined twins from 28 countries on 5 continents around the world, to be one of the noble humanitarian initiatives offered by the Kingdom. The program bears all expenses for the operations to separate the twins and their treatment and rehabilitation after separation, in addition to covering the transportation expenses and hosting the twins and their families inside the Kingdom throughout the period of medical care, so that they remain close to their children, and instill in them a spirit of optimism about a bright, healthy future for their offspring, removing anxiety and fear from their shoulders.
In order to highlight Saudi Arabia’s efforts internationally and preserve its rights to give, like major donor countries, platforms dedicated to international documentation and registration were created, such as the “Saudi Aid Platform” and the “Platform for the Aid Provided to Refugees in the Kingdom.” The electronic donation platform “Sahim” also emerged, which was able to collect more than one billion and 701 million riyals, with the participation of more than 9 million and 829 thousand donors.
Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Salman Relief Center, won a series of international awards and honors, including the “Child and Family Friendly Institutions Award” for the year 2024, in recognition of its efforts to support Palestinian children and families in conditions of occupation, and the “Global Humanitarian Achievement Award” for its outstanding contributions to relief and humanitarian work internationally.
In 2024, the United Nations adopted the Kingdom’s initiative to designate November 24 as International Day for “Conjoined Twins,” with the aim of raising awareness about these humanitarian conditions and celebrating achievements in the field of operations to separate conjoined twins. The Kingdom also ranked second globally and first in the Arab world among donor countries in providing humanitarian and relief aid for the year 2025, according to the United Nations Financial Tracking Platform (FTS).
This prominent humanitarian role of the King Salman Relief Center coincides with the International Day of Charity, confirming that the Kingdom is not satisfied with celebrating the occasion; Rather, its meanings reflect a tangible reality, taking its ambitious vision “2030” as a beacon that leads Saudi humanitarian work to the ascents of Al-Ula, so that humanity is manifested in its finest form, with a Saudi identity and a global impact.
The death sentence issued for the Egyptian program presenter and artistic producer Sarah Khalifa and 11 others by hanging after the Mufti supported the ruling, accusing them of importing, manufacturing and trafficking in narcotic substances, attracted attention in Egypt, and the name of the Egyptian program presenter “Trend” topped the trend on “Google” and “X” in Egypt, on Saturday.
The Public Prosecution had referred 28 defendants, including the accused Sarah Khalifa Hamada, an artistic producer and presenter, to the Criminal Court, to be tried on charges of forming an organized criminal gang that specialized in bringing materials used to create narcotic drugs, for the purpose of manufacturing them for the purpose of trafficking, and obtaining and possessing firearms and ammunition without a license.
Investigations indicated that about 750 kilograms of narcotic substances and the raw materials used in their manufacture were seized, among the seizures in the case that was called in the media “the major drug case” due to the size of the seizures and the number of participants in the gang formation.
In addition to this case, Sarah Khalifa and three others are facing charges related to detaining a young man, assaulting him, beating him, assaulting him, and photographing him naked inside her residence in the Agouza area.
In the “major drugs” case, 9 people were sentenced in their presence, while two fugitives, one of whom was of Iraqi nationality, were sentenced in absentia. Life imprisonment sentences were issued to nine defendants, and seven defendants were acquitted.
Investigations into Case No. 6838 of 2025, First Settlement Felons, revealed that the gang is led by Duraid Abdel Latif Al-Samrani, an Iraqi national, and an Egyptian national residing in Al-Gamaleya, who are on the run, in addition to Sarah Khalifa, an accused who owns an import office, and an accused who owns a contracting company.
The investigations monitored the various roles played by each accused, including the accused Sarah Khalifa, who, according to the investigations, was responsible for pumping the necessary funds and traveling outside the country to hold meetings with the first and second accused to coordinate between them and the rest of the organization’s members. After contracting and purchasing these materials, other accused brought them into the country.
Major General Tamer El-Shahawy, a former member of the Egyptian House of Representatives, believes that “the ruling issued today is a strict implementation of Law No. 182 of 1960 to combat drugs, and a deterrent message to anyone who dares to destroy the youth of this country.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat, “This case confirms that the state is waging a real war against the created drug mafia, which is no less dangerous than terrorism.”
Al-Shahawi points out that this ruling “is a first-instance ruling and not final, and the defendants still have the right to appeal it before the Court of Appeal within 30 days of submitting the merits of the ruling, to reconsider the case again, and this is the essence of the guarantees of justice in Egyptian law.”
He continued: “As a politician and former member of the House of Representatives, and as a citizen above all, we will continue to support all legislation that increases the penalty for bringing and manufacturing drugs, and support the efforts of the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution to dry up their sources, while fully preserving the guarantees of a fair trial.”
Meanwhile, legal expert Mabrouk Hassan points out that “the Penal Code stipulates the death penalty for anyone who trades drugs, leaving the determination of this penalty to the judiciary,” adding to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the original is the death penalty for whoever plants, brings, or promotes drugs, but the judge can replace the death penalty with another freedom-restricting penalty, such as life imprisonment or imprisonment not exceeding 15 years if the quantity seized is small.”
He continued: “But in Sarah Khalifa’s case, the original punishment is death. This is because the seized quantities would destroy the lives of many people.”
