How to Punish Teenagers Besides Taking Their Phones

If you’re a fed up parent and need ideas for how to punish teenagers besides taking their phones, I’m here to help. I have some experience of my own when it comes to punishing a teen. Not to mention, a girl who’s already acting like a teen even though she’s not yet. Teenager…am I right? They’re tough to handle, but they have their moments that make it worth it. Here is how to punish teenagers without taking their phones.

How to punish teenagers without taking their phones

Solve the Issue Together

Sit down and talk with your teen about the issue at hand. This is less of a punishment and more of a strategy. Teens go through a lot of changes and issues that can be heavy and hard to navigate. Help them sort out their actions, where they went wrong, how to navigate the situation next time, and the consequences that will follow, including those outside of punishments parents can hand out.

Remove Your Cooperation

If your child is being disrespectful, withdrawing your cooperation is an effective punishment. In other words, if they want to talk back to you, yell at you, or not listen, they can suffer the consequences of you giving them a sort of cold shoulder. They just automatically expect you to fix dinner or drive them to their friend’s house? Not anymore. Make them fend for themselves and figure it out for a bit to learn that respect goes a long way and bad behavior doesn’t.

Pick Your Battles

Don’t rag your teen for every little thing that’s not perfect. Focus on the bigger stuff – the stuff that will really matter down the road. Being too hard on them will make them feel like they’re never good enough. This effectively kills your ability to punish them with a successful outcome.

Make Them Work On Repair

Sometimes, teens make dumb choices and instead of yelling, taking away something, and the usual, make them repair the situation. Instead of stepping in yourself and sorting it all out, make them do the work to clean up their own mess they made. For example, say your teen mistreats a teacher. Make them go through and choose a DIY gift to make them. Then have them wrap it and present it to them with a true apology for their behavior. This is just an example, but you get the picture.

Sometimes teens just need to feel the consequences of their dumb actions, even if it was born from a quick, heated moment. They need to know that in real life, no one else will be cleaning up after their issues – that’s their job. Punishment is all about teaching them a valuable lesson about life and how to better navigate it. So, if your punishment is just focused on anger and hurting them, then it won’t do what it was meant to accomplish. Learning how to punish kids besides taking their phone is tough, but it’s all about patience and remembering what it was like to grow up in such a crazy world.