You may have often heard of parents punishing their kids by taking away their cell phones, or you might suffer from this account firsthand, and feel like your world was pulled from under your feet. Your cell phone connects you to your friends and all of the social media platforms used by millions across the world. Parents may choose to use taking these devices away as their main punishment for any age kid. When parents take a kid’s phone, they are also taking away our communication, entertainment, and maybe even jeopardizing our safety.

To begin, cell phones are the most up-to-date form of communication with teens these days. Apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, or other messaging apps allow us to communicate with our friends when we aren’t around them. Not only do we use these apps to communicate with our friends when we have free time, but we are using messaging to communicate with our parents as well. Parents may argue that these apps can be a sort of distraction from priorities during our teenage years, but they are only taking our connection to others and isolating us from the only form of communication we have with our peers, which is only teaching us how to lose relationships.

Secondly, by taking away our cell phones, parents are also taking our main form of entertainment. Considering most teens this age rely on their phones in their pit of boredom, this means that most teens are also met with no other option but to use their phones and apps for entertainment. Even if we think about teens while they are hanging out or having a sleepover, most of that time is spent on phones or bonding through things on their phone.

The most important factor parents should take into consideration when taking their child’s phone is how they could potentially be jeopardizing their safety. As teens go through their high school time, they are starting to spend more of their time going out with friends, attending parties, or even starting to drive on their own. As much as we don’t want to admit it, we will always rely on our parents first in times where we feel in danger. The only way that we could get in touch with our parents when we are away from them is through our phones, simply through a text or a phone call. Without a phone, kids aren’t given an option to get in touch with parents or friends when they feel in danger.

To end, taking away a teen’s phone isn’t the most productive option when punishing them. There are many other consequences that could still assure our safety and allow us to be just as punished for our mistakes. If you are a parent and are considering taking your child’s phone, please take into consideration how your kid will feel without their phone as well as their safety.