Taking away a teen's phone interferes with their social life, which can drive a wedge between parent and teen. It's helpful to make the punishment related to the misbehavior, so taking away your teen's phone for a misbehavior like breaking curfew doesn't usually make sense.
Positive punishment is when a bad thing is added and negative punishment is when a good thing is taken away. Since a good thing is taken away to decrease the likelihood that she will repeat her action, the removal of the phone is a negative punishment.
Yes, unless you are absolutely sure your teenager is able to put the phone away (and not pick it up) at bedtime. That's because screens and sleep do not mix. The light emitted by the typical screen inhibits the production of melatonin in our brains. Melatonin is the chemical that allows us to fall and stay asleep.
Playing board games or engaging your child in activities like cleaning, cooking or gardening will keep her away from smartphones. Encourage your child to pursue hobbies such as listening to music, playing an instrument, reading, or painting.
When you give a kid a device will determine how long a parent is going to be monitoring them, though not all parents agree on when they should give up control. As we showed in our previous survey coverage, parents tend to agree that they have to monitor kids up to about age 10.
It's 100 percent your right to check their devices,” said Bill Wiltse, President of Child Rescue Coalition. Child predators want to invade children's lives, an abuse that they may never recover from. The horrific truth is that some children are driven to suicide having suffered online abuse.
Psychologists believe that in order to stop this culture of entitlement, the overprotective instincts must be curbed. This means parents taking away the thing that kids feel attached to the most — their phone — as a form of punishment.
Having your phone taken away by your parents is a relatively common punishment. Your parents may decide to take your phone away because you have abused your phone privileges. They may also decide to take your phone away as a punishment for a different mistake.
Bark not only helps keep kids physically safe — it can also help keep them emotionally healthy. As kids spend more and more time deep in their devices, they may not be communicating to parents how they're actually feeling or what struggles they're facing.
Research Shows Grounding Doesn't Work
Yes, some smarty-pants over at the Yale Parenting Center have done a bunch of studies and have concluded that grounding a teen doesn't change their heart, their attitude or their behavior.
Reading your child's text messages is not that different than eavesdropping or reading their diary.” She advises parents to stay in their lane by steering clear of needless snooping, whether trying to find out what your kids are saying or who they are hanging out with.
As a reactive form of punishment, taking away privileges seems random and fails to establish the connection between a behavior and a consequence," Fox notes. "When set up in advance, it gives the child a choice — if they don't make their bed, they are choosing to not be allowed to play with their LEGOs.
In negative punishment , you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. For example, when a child misbehaves, a parent can take away a favorite toy.
One of the best punishments for teens could be letting them face the natural consequences of their actions. You can also try limiting their privileges to certain times or assigning them extra chores. Make sure the punishment comes across as a learning experience rather than a complex task imposed on them (1).
It's this nightly production of melatonin that enables us to fall asleep. The bottom line: When parents take away teens' cell phones at night, they're helping to ensure this natural sleep process can occur, so their teenager can get a decent's night rest.
Experts suggest that you should wait to get your kid a smartphone until at least 8th grade. Along with age, a kid's social awareness, understanding of technology, and maturity should be considered.
Grounding for a week, or two or three weekends is probably sufficient to get the message across without losing it over time. A month may be too long. As the parent of a teen, a shorter time gives you a lesser chance of caving in and reducing the grounding period later.
Teens (14-17 years):
0-2 years old: should go to sleep between 8:00 and 9:00 pm. 3-5 years old: should go to sleep between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. 6-12 years old: should go to sleep between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. 13-18 years old: should go to sleep around 10:00 pm.
Overall, parents should be able to trust their kid enough to not look through their phones. This will also maintain trust and a healthy relationship. If there is heavy evidence that there is something that should be investigated, then it's okay, but if not… teens should have some privacy.
So, should you check your child's phone? Yes. However, you need to talk to your child first and come up with a set of rules together before you starting taking their phones off of them to snoop through.
Giving your child time and privacy to think and explore is an important part of supporting their growing independence. That's because part of growing up is learning to handle new ideas, emotions and interests with independence and responsibility.