Dear parents,

I'm writing to you about a topic that I have brought up many times before, the time I am told to go to bed and when you take my screens away.  Part of growing up is practicing making decisions for yourself, for example, when to put your phone down and fall asleep. It is really important for all ages between 10 and 18, to experience taking care of yourself to prepare for adulthood.

Taking away phones is a go-to punishment for parents--- it gets the attention of your child by cutting them off from many distractions, their friends, games, and videos. “ you get their attention because you cut them off from their friends” says kate gosselin, the mom in reality series kate plus eight. While she puts it rather crudely, it's somewhat true. A lot of parents believe that the threat of taking their daughters phone is a powerful deterrent of bad behavior, but is it really?

Beth peters is a clinical psychologist in colorado and she says, “ when you remove a teens lifeline to their friends, there will be a major emotional backlash, a breakdown of the parent-child relationship.” when a parent takes their kid’s phone, it is not trying to solve the problem. They don't talk to their parent, “you’re really setting yourself up for a dishonest teen because they need that contact and will resort to sneaky behavior to get it.” I personally feel that my privacy being invaded is worse than loss of contact with friends and encourage an alternative to losing my phone.

Let’s try to find a fair middle ground. For example, you can take my phone if I have a bunch of late work, as well as if I have something important in the morning. But please can i keep my phone at night? This would allow me to be productive and self regulate my time on screens. “Natural consequences make the best teachers, so it only makes sense to take it away for issues that involve the device or communication that happens on the device,” says Doreen Dodgen-Magee, a psychologist from Lake Oswego, Oregon. If i do something punishable and my phone is the most fitting punishment, it should be reasonably and fairly decided how long i've lost it for.

Sincerely,
Lauren


Works Cited:
Marshall, Jojo. "When Should You Come Between a Teenager and Her Phone?" Child Mind Institute. ©2017 Child Mind Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Author, Anonymous. "Teens Don't Need a Curfew." Teen Ink. Teen Ink, 19 May 2017. Web.
Ericson, Cathie. "3 Things to Consider Before Confiscating a Teenager's Phone." Your Teen Magazine. 24 Feb. 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.