How to Take Away a Teenage Daughter's Phone and Computer for Punishment
Because the majority of teenagers use technology on a regular basis for almost all of their social needs, taking away your daughter's cell phone or computer privileges can be a powerful discipline tool. Taking away these tools effectively, though, is the key to having the punishment alter behavior, and if you are not comfortable with completely taking away these technologies, there are ways to modify their use, too.
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Instructions
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Make the punishment fit the crime. While it might be an easy way to punish your child, simply taking away the cell phone or computer should not be a punishment for every misstep. For instance, if your child struggles with her grades and you are upset about a recent report card, implement a mandatory study time instead of thinking that taking away the phone or computer will help her study. She will likely need the computer for homework anyway, but you can check the browser's history to make sure she is steering clear of recreational sites.
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Disable social media outlets. Your daughter likely uses the computer mostly for social media purposes, but she will probably still need to use it for writing papers. She might even need access to email. However, if she uses a social media network, change her password for the week so she cannot get on the site. Or, block certain sites from your Internet browser for the week. Make sure that you know your daughter's password or are a "friend" of your daughter's on all of her social media sites so that you can monitor her activity and know that she is staying off.
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Alter your cell phone policy. You can take your daughter's phone away, but some parents worry that she will need it in an emergency situation. Instead, talk to your cell phone provider and ask that she only be allowed to call certain numbers. Allow an emergency number, your number and another trusted adult emergency contact number. Block the rest. You can also block web browsing and text messaging, but your cell phone provider could charge you for this. An alternative is to contact your provider and set a limit on how much web browsing can be done in a month for her number.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use an online service that will show you everything your child does online. This includes all her friends, pictures and comments on popular social networking sites.
You can also use an online timer. This will automatically limit the number of hours your daughter can be online. This will let her still use the Internet to complete school projects.
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